Until Forever Ends Book One: Fire
by beautifulxxflame
Summary: Rubi, a fire demoness, wants nothing more than to escape her arranged mating. A perfect chance comes when a certain Demon Lord comes looking for repayment in the form of a travelling companion. In the years following, what will happen?
1. Starting the Journey

Hey! This is my first posted story, hope I did well and hope you enjoy it! I actually have about 10 chapters written, but won't post unless people want me to! Reviews make me happy!^^

_Then she felt the all-too-familiar feeling of the eyes on her, but along with about five hundred eyes as well. Yuko was tugging on her sleeve in excitement. Could it really be…?_

**-Starting the Journey-**

The tear that glowed in the afternoon light fell with surprising speed and stained the red kimono. She tried to wipe it off but to no avail.

Rubi Tamasho was an eighteen year old Japanese fire demoness, or kansai youkai as they were called in traditional Japanese. And she had just been arranged to mate with a man that she absolutely _despised._

She heard her mother calling for her to come down for tea. Rubi guessed she had made rice by the smell of it, at least one thing to cheer her up. But Rubi didn't think it would help that much.

Looking in the mirror first to make sure her eyes weren't _too_ puffy; she slowly walked to the kitchen. Two steaming bowls of rice complete with chopsticks were laid on the counter. Rubi didn't think her unhappiness showed that much, but mothers knew almost everything that their children felt for some strange reason, so her mother stated,

"Rubi dear, Murko isn't that bad of youkai. When I met with his family, he seemed quite nice. Be grateful to have a family with a son who wants to mate with you."

"But mother, he's an arrogant jerk! Four whole hours we were together, and not once did he ask me a question about myself! He just went on and on about how he is "the best" man in the village, and about how I should be blessed to be his mate!"

"But maybe he'll grow on you in the months to come."

"I don't think so!"

Rubi asked the question that she dreaded the answer to.

"When is it?"

"Next mating season."

"WHAT!?!" Rubi was literally seeing red. She would have gladly put this event off for years, but it was happening in about _five months?_ How could her mother, the person she loved most in the world, do this to her?

"I know that you aren't happy, but please, for my sake, say no more tonight. Your mind will undoubtedly be preoccupied with other things."

What was so special about tonight? That was the question that Rubi asked.

"You know, the- wait, I didn't tell you! Remember the news of the Dog Demon Lord, the Lord of the Western Lands, coming to our soshi youkai (element demon) village to destroy that ghost youkai that had been haunting the valley for months now?"

"Yeah, I think so… wait. What was his name again?"

"Lord Sesshomaru."

"Oh yeah, I remember. Did he succeed?" Rubi felt stupid. With the power he was rumored to have, of course he did.

"Of course he did," said her mother, mirroring her thoughts. "But there was one catch. He asked for, in repayment for his doings, a young demoness to travel with him and assist him. It would be any demoness he chose, and he has many to choose from since there are about five hundred in this village. There is a formal dance tonight, both to honour him and so he can choose. All young demonesses are to attend, as well as their parents."

Rubi's curious thoughts of her father, which had started when her mother said "parents" got interrupted when another idea hit her right in the face. If she was chosen, that would mean exploring the world outside the village, which she had always wanted to do, _and_ escaping from her arranged mating. It would also be an excellent way to practice and use her demonic powers. Rubi nearly yelled with delight at her new idea, and ran up the stairs, her mother shaking her head, wondering how teenagers could change into drastically different moods so quickly.

The dance was an hour and a half away. Rubi looked through her closet, trying to find something suitable. But she had a (very smart, in her opinion) idea that went with not just dress, but personality bias.

_See, a person can tell a lot about you by how you dress, _she thought._ Wearing an elaborate kimono portrays wealth but not the ability to live comfortably in the wild without many supplies, which is obviously what we will be doing. Wearing my hair up will say the same thing. _So Rubi decided to leave her hair the way it was, and thought more about the kimono.

_But I know from experience that the eye is immediately drawn to the prettier people in the room. It is all creatures' nature, even demons. So I have to be at least moderately attractive._ Reasoning done, she found a gold kimono with black flower embroidery and a red obi to go with it. Simple in it's construction, but elaborate in design. In another forty-five minutes, she was ready, and having left-over rice to hold her hunger until the dance.

Rubi joined the steady stream of demonesses and their parents heading down to the huge village gardens that the formal event would be held in. Seeing all the demons that were their fathers made Rubi extremely jealous, though she was used to it.

Rubi only had her mother for family. The youkai village they called home was, of course, for demons, but there was a human village very close by. When her mother was about 500, and looking 25, she met a human at the border, and fell in love. But not long after their child was born, the human father died when another group of demons attacked the human village. Rubi Tamasho was the child and a half-demon, or hanyou, as a result, although she and her mother would never admit that to anyone, saying instead that she was full kansai youkai.

Rubi heard a familiar voice calling, and walked over, though to any human it would look like a series of bounces, each "stride" about three meters long.

The voice belonged to Yuko, a water demoness and her best friend. When they were little, they had often used Rubi's (at the time hugely oversized for her height) fire staff and Yuko's bow and arrows of water power to combine their magic, which resulted in a colourful firework show. All demons had to have a way to convey their magic, and Rubi's was a staff, which was made from an oak tree and bore a blood-red stone at the top, where the power was released from. She took it everywhere with her, and it was held tight in her hand at this very moment.

"Well, this is an interesting night."

"Indeed it is," Rubi replied, another idea striking her. "Hey, want to come stay at my house after the dance? We could put on another firework show, but better since we're basically adults." The thing that Rubi loved was that yes, she was truly eighteen now, but 200 years from now she and her friends would look almost exactly the same. And that she had such a long life to live ahead of her, even though she might not enjoy it right now. How she pitied humans.

An exclamation of "YES!" broke into her thoughts. Yuko then started laughing, remembering the fireworks. Rubi could already see this night was going to be fun, whether she got chosen or not. She dismissed the thoughts of the arranged mating for the present.

It was crowded for a while in the Garden entrance, but soon everybody started walking off in different directions. While her mother immediately started talking to another demoness, Yuko pulled Rubi away to the far side of the main area to show her an exotic plant she had discovered a few days previous. While Rubi was bending down, smelling the flower and talking to Yuko, she felt a burning stare on her back. She spun around, looking in the direction it came from, but it had stopped and there was no-one to be seen looking at her.

"My, we're jumpy tonight," Yuko teased, but looking at her friend in concern. On a more serious note she added, "What's on your mind?"

"I'll tell you later," Rubi replied, still trying to find the source of the stare. She then dismissed it as her imagination and walked over to the food table.

The burning stare happened two more times, and Rubi had to admit it wasn't her making things up. Both times she spun around, for it only happened when her back was turned to the source. She knew Yuko was getting annoyed, and resolved to stop trying to find the owner of the eyes with the intense glare.

But when she was just finishing her bowl of Chazuke, Rubi felt it again. She snorted in annoyance. But it lingered longer this time, and when she finally could stand it no longer, she turned again.

"Rubi, could you _please_ stop- wow…" For the source didn't hide itself this time, and Rubi couldn't look away.

A demon, obviously a dog demon or daiyoukai, with long silvery-white hair that almost reached his knees and the most piercing amber eyes. His kimono and hakama were white, the kimono decorated with red hexagons on the shoulders and sleeves. A yellow and blue obi completed the outfit, and a mokomoko of white fur was resting over his shoulder, symbolizing royalty. Somehow, without being told, Rubi knew this was the Demon Lord Sesshomaru.

"He is… interesting, isn't he?" commented Yuko, who had followed Rubi's eyes with her own.

"Mmmm…" He had stopped looking in their direction, and was walking over to a demoness in a deep red kimono with waist length black hair, red eyes and red nails who was obviously a fire demon… wait. That was her _mother!_

Rubi watched as they talked, and then her mother motioned in her direction. Rubi, using her demonic speed, quickly spun to face Yuko and performed hand motions like she was in an in-depth conversation. Yuko just looked confused and asked,

"What exactly are you doing?"

"My mom and him, they're looking at us. Whatever you do, don't look to your right."

"It's a good thing you're my best friend, because if you weren't, I would've ditched you a long time ago!"

The huge clock that overlooked the gardens chimed eleven as everybody occupying the Gardens fell silent. All demons' attention was at the front, on a raised podium that had just been created by a wood youkai. The village leader and Lord Sesshomaru were standing on the wooden structure, waiting for silence.

"I have made my choice, and will announce it at the tenth hour tomorrow."

After that, the Demon Lord jumped down and disappeared into the night.

"The gathering has officially ended," added the leader, following Lord Sesshomaru.

Rubi hadn't even begun moving in any direction when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stared up into her mother's red eyes.

"What did he say to you?" asked the half-demoness as her, her mother and Yuko started walking back to the Tamasho house.

"Just asking your name and a bit on your personality."

"You better have answered correctly!" Rubi playfully threatened. In no time at all they had reached her house.

Rubi led the way to her room, and once they had jumped up the steps, which were a bit shorter than a meter high each and settled themselves on the floor, they started to talk. Her best friend hadn't forgotten what Rubi had promised at the dance.

"I believe that it is considered "later" now. What's been bothering you?"

"Well, you already know about the eyes."

"I don't mean the eyes. Something else."

Rubi gave up. She couldn't fool her best friend, who had known her for about ten years now.

"I want to get chosen so badly."

Yuko raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"My life sucks. Well, everything except my mom and you. I am arranged to mate with _Murko, _don't you remember him?"

"I don't know…" Yuko thought, "I don't- oh, was he that guy who was in my archery class and kept showing off to everyone every chance he got?"

"Sounds like him."

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, "Not _him!_ If I was going to mate with _him, _I probably would commit suicide or something…"

Rubi knew that Yuko felt sorry for her, but she also knew her best friend couldn't even imagine how she felt. A few months ago, Yuko's family arranged her to mate with a demon that they both knew very well. It also happened that Yuko had a crush on him since eighth year at school. The mating was going to take place in the spring, as all matings were. For about a month and a half at that time was mating season, the only time possible. It was late November at the moment. She sighed, thinking how lucky her friend was, and got up to stand in front of her mirror.

An near-adult demoness stared back at her, with moderately pale skin (but a natural colour for a youkai) and blue, almost violet eyes framed by a bit shy of shoulder-length black hair decorated with natural blood-red streaks. She was shaken back into the present by Yuko asking her a question.

"So what's your exact reason for wanting to be chosen so badly?"

"Mostly an escape from my mating. But I have always wanted to explore the world beyond the village, so that would basically equal a two-in-one reason."

"Ah, I see. But for my outlook on it, I am exactly the opposite of you. I am quite happy with my life, and have no wish to explore outside the village. Heck, if I'm chosen, we could switch identities!"

Rubi laughed along with her friend. But Yuko suddenly looked serious again, so Rubi became silent.

"But in all seriousness, there are about five hundred girls in the village. And while my chance is a five hundred in one, yours is a one in five hundred. I would hate for you to leave me, but I would hate seeing you unhappy even more."

"Well, nothing will probably come of it anyways," Rubi stated, and that ended the conversation for the night.

"Yuko wake up! We have to be gone in like… HALF AN HOUR!"

Agitated was a word you could use to describe Rubi at this moment. They had to be at the Gardens in exactly half an hour and Yuko _still_ hadn't woken up, even though the fire demoness had been trying to wake her best friend up for the last quarter of an hour.

"Ughh… fine, it's really warm though-"

"Just wake up," Rubi said calmly, she had come very close to screaming at the water demoness. She then left Yuko to her own devices and leaped down the stairs to breakfast, already wrapped in a red kimono with golden fire at the bottom and sleeves.

Yuko soon joined them, dressed the same as last night, since she had been invited over on short notice. Rubi noticed her mother had a sly smile plastered on her face all throughout breakfast and asked about it a few times, but all the older demoness did was shake her head and reply "nothing" infuriatingly. The two friends were soon on their way to the Gardens, once again joining the throng that was heading the same way.

The thing Rubi noticed first was that Lord Sesshomaru had added a breastplate to his outfit. She was looking up at the podium like everybody else. He started speaking, and for the first time Rubi gave up all hope that she would be chosen. She realized that all her thoughts up until now had been childish hopes, and that if she was to take on a mate that she would have to act much more mature. Her violet eyes scanned the crowd, and found a familiar figure that she wasn't expecting to be here.

Her mother stood in the crowd as well, with that same smile on her face, and looking quite out-of-place because everyone was at least two hundred years younger. Then she felt the all-too-familiar feeling of the eyes on her, but along with about five hundred eyes as well. Yuko was tugging on her sleeve in excitement. _Could it really be…?_

"Kansai youkai Rubi Tamasho, if you are present."

Rubi couldn't believe her ears. Her, chosen? Out of all these girls, some wanting, some not? She started on her way to the podium, eyes still on her. _Be careful what you wish for,_ her mother had always told her, _because it might just come true._ This was a prime example of that, then. But now that she had gotten herself into this, a thing that she longed to do was to turn and run the opposite direction, right to her mother and bury her face in her mom's kimono, like she used to. But she couldn't do that, not now, not for the rest of her life. Her wish had come true. She was happy.

She reached the podium in no time at all, and jumped straight onto it. Trying to speak up, Rubi said,

"I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that Lord Sesshomaru-sama has given me." She decided to tack the "sama" (meaning Lord/Lady) onto the end for more respect. "I will do the best I can as his assistant."

She then was given a nod by him, and jumped down from the wooden structure.

The two demonesses she loved most met her when she landed. Yuko let out a little scream and hugged her.

"You got what you wished for!" she exclaimed.

"Indeed you did," her mother said in a slightly more calm voice, but was distracted when a presence loomed up behind her daughter. Rubi could also sense it.

"Rubi," Lord Sesshomaru said, nodding his head to her. Rubi mentally laughed when she saw Yuko subconsciously straighten her kimono. Rubi asked a question, to escape from simply asking "why are you here?" which was very impolite.

"When will I need to be ready, my lord?"

He paused. "One hour, and then my servant Jaken," he gestured to a toad-demon standing beside him (and coming up to his mid-thigh), "and us are leaving." He then turned and walked a few paces away, Jaken (who Rubi guessed was his servant) following him.

"That toad guy is funny," Yuko commented, and Rubi laughed. Her mother then took her hand.

"In the last hour you have with us, I have some things for you."

While walking back, Rubi learned that Sesshomaru had visited her mother late last night, and told her of his choice. That explained the smiles, and the appearance at the announcement. As her mother lead her into their living room, Yuko right behind them, the kansai youkai took a package from the counter and told Rubi to unwrap it. Rubi gasped as she gazed upon its contents.

A two-piece skintight black suit, made up of pants and a long sleeve shirt that ended a bit above her bellybutton. Over that were embroidered draping sleeves, and pants that ended mid-calf to match. Rubi had seen clothes like these on travelers, and she knew that they cost a fortune.

"Oh my god, thank you so much!" Rubi exclaimed, "I hope I haven't put you in debt for this!"

"I know this is going to be the last of the money I spend on you for a long time, so I am perfectly okay with it. But wait, there is another one." She handed Rubi a second package.

Inside of that was a silk kimono, blue but with tiny embroidery in red all over it. Gold and silver flowers patterned the shoulders and sleeves, and the outfit came alive with the addition of a simple black obi. Rubi grinned like a four year old.

"If the traveling outfit cost a fortune, I can only imagine how much this cost you. Thank you again for both, but I have to ask, where am I going to wear it? I'll most likely be bush-whacking most of the time."

"I don't know," her mother smiled, "but take it with you, for you'll never know when you will need a kimono fit for a princess, like you."

Rubi ran to hug her mother. Yuko clapped.

A shoulder bag with the kimono and a few favourite spices was what Rubi packed. Yes, youkai had the strength of a hundred men, but even they tire, and that was really all Rubi could think of. She leapt down the stairs, the traveling outfit fitting her like a second skin. Yuko was preparing to leave, and Rubi felt tears spring to her eyes. The water demoness she had known for years was staying while she was going. It just felt unnatural.

"Since I didn't have warning that you were getting chosen, I'm sorry I can't have an expensive gift ready for you. But I do have something…" her hand went to her wrist and unfastened the sapphire and silver bracelet that was there. Yuko had had that bracelet forever; it had been fastened on her wrist since birth, by her parents. It had become a part of Yuko's appearance, and seeing her without it was unimaginable. And she was giving it to Rubi.

"Yuko, I can't accept this, it's yours, by birth."

"And that means it's mine to give to whomever I wish." Yuko clipped it around her best friend's arm.

"Yuko…" Rubi whispered and drew her close in a tight embrace. "I have to go now," she choked, "goodbye, best friend. I _will_ see you again, I know it." And with that, Rubi Tamasho walked to the village square again, leaving her truest friend behind, maybe forever.

"You're ready?"

"Yes, my lord," Rubi replied, standing in front of the Demon Lord. She had said her teary goodbyes to her mother on the way there, and the older fire demoness stood a distance away right now, watching her only child go out into the world. She wiped the tears running down her cheeks.

"Follow me. We will find a camp about fifteen miles from here." Lord Sesshomaru started walking towards the gate, his mokamoka swaying in the early afternoon breeze. He seemed so cold and distant, but Rubi was intrigued by that. Rubi waved one last time at her mother, and followed him and Jaken. She started asking questions.

"So how long have you traveled with Lord Sesshomaru-sama?"

"I was born a servant for him."

"So that's what frog demons are for!"

He let out a "hrrmp!" and kept walking. Rubi laughed, her staff gripped in her hand. He wasn't that friendly, but she'd pester some information out of him.

She missed her old life already, but was eagerly awaiting the new. Rubi had started her journey.

-End

Review??? Maybe maybe????


	2. A Slight Problem

I guess I'll be putting the second chappy up now! And, because someone asked me, Rin isn't travelling with Sesshomaru's group at the moment. This'll be a shorter chapter than the first, but most of the chapters won't be as long. On with the story!

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_She should have known. Should've anticipated it. But the thrill of the moment, or of the last three weeks, had cleared her mind of everything but the present. She was normal. She was human._

**- A Slight Problem -**

"Mmm…" a sleepy Rubi murmured as a ray of sunlight fell upon her face, waking her up. She looked around; noticing everyone (who consisted of the toad-demon Jaken and the Demon Lord Sesshomaru) was still asleep. No need to wake them up. Rubi crept out of the forest clearing, noticing that she couldn't put her feet down as lightly as usual. Still sleepy.

Rubi Tamasho was into her third week of traveling, give or take a few days. She loved it for the most part, though it did get awkward at times. Jaken was fun to talk to/tease, usually holding his own for a good hour until he had to give in to her incessant questioning, trying to get a conversation started.

Lord Sesshomaru was another topic altogether. He seemed cold, uncaring and downright mysterious, but talked sometimes, and seemed to be very used to traveling in the wild. Rubi had often wondered how old he actually was, since he looked around nineteen, but had never worked up the courage to ask. He made her feel…so _different._ She felt like his eyes could stare right through her, but obviously didn't know everything about her since he still didn't know her half-demon secret.

Rubi searched through her small bag for her red cloth, which she used to wash her face, and headed towards the river they were camped near. She looked in the never-still water to see how bad she looked from a night of sleeping on her side, and just held herself back from screaming.

She should have known. Should've anticipated it. But the thrill of the moment, or of the last three weeks, had cleared her mind of everything but the present. She was normal. She was human.

For one full day, once every month, all half-demons turn completely human. She couldn't use any of her powers. No controlling fire, no using her staff, except for hand-to-hand combat. Not even super-human strength and speed. And she had to keep it a complete secret. But the worst part of the whole situation was that Rubi Tamasho's appearance was human too. Red streaks, pointed ears, pointed teeth and pointed fingernails were gone.

The used-to-be-fire-demoness picked up a stone and threw it as far as she could. This totaled to halfway across the river. In her normal state, she could have easily cleared the river and beyond with only a flick of her wrist. Rubi sighed heavily. What would she do? Take an all-day walk in the forest; come back at past-twelve? Much too suspicious. She picked a plump red berry off the bush and rolled it between her two forefingers, thinking. The berry split, spraying blood-red juice all over her leg.

Rubi swore, even though her pant leg was red already, annoyed at the world.

_Urgh, now I have to wash the traveling suit. The stain is the same colour as_ _my hair… _wait a minute! If the dye stained her clothes, wouldn't it stain her hair just as well? She could only try.

In just a few minutes, Rubi knew her reasoning was correct. Yes, the streaks were in different places, but who would memorize her hair like that, just so they could check? She wouldn't put it past Jaken. But when she was finished, and admiring herself in the river, Rubi knew her hair at least would fool them. Now, just to hide her fingernails and ears, not to mention her powers for a day, and she'd be fine… or as close to fine as she'd ever get.

"Where is the breakfast?"

"Get it yourself, lazy sod!" Rubi replied carefully as she entered the clearing. Not wanting to admit her human body was starved on the point of passing out. But hopefully Jaken would get some food soon, and save her the time of thinking up an explanation for randomly falling unconscious.

She moved around as quickly as she could, which looked just a tad slow of her usual demon walking. Finally getting dizzy, she gave up.

"Fine, I'll get it, just know that you owe me one, toad!" she threatened as she half-stumbled off into the bushes to look for a walking meal. Rubi wondered if her voice sounded different human. If it did, she'd be in huge trouble.

She threw her staff spiky-end-forward at the first animal she saw. Hunting wildlife had become a regular part of her 24-hour schedule since she or Jaken were the ones who usually did it. No animal could escape her fire-staff hurled at a speed so great you couldn't even see it.

But of course, she was human, and the staff fell to the ground shortly after the mammal had bolted for safety.

"Damn it!" she vehemently whispered under her breath as her vision swayed before her. Just then, a rabbit hopped up, totally oblivious to her presence.

"You will not escape me!" she yelled and stabbed her staff at it. Fortunately, it fell over as the life ebbed out of its tiny body. Rubi smiled grimly in satisfaction.

"Now, to roast you… but I can't light a fire. Gr-eat."

"What are you waiting for? Light the fire, Rubi," Sesshomaru said as he watched her with minimal interest. His silvery-white hair was still damp from the river-bath he had taken earlier. Rubi tried to imagine him without his white kimono, and then questioned her own sanity. She was brought back to the present by his words.

"Right then, I'll be on it!" she spoke trying to keep her voice level. _How was she going to pull this off?_

His attention was diverted for a second by Jaken poking a slug with a stick. The slug then exploded, covering everything in a one-meter radius (everything _including_ the Demon Lord) in slug goo and causing the toad-demon to scream rather loudly. Rubi stifled a giggle and quickly grabbed two sticks, rubbing them together as fast as she could.

"I am going to have to take another bath now," Sesshomaru stated dryly, standing up, first kicking his goo-covered vassal and then walking off into the forest. Rubi inwardly danced.

While Jaken picked the slime off himself, Rubi, to her immediate surprise, got a nice, healthy fire going. He held up a huge gob of it and stated,

"This looks like vomit!"

She made a face. "I think _I'm_ going to barf now!"

They were off again, Sesshomaru regarding his servant rather coldly, and Rubi randomly bursting out into fits of laughter. During one of her fits, a huge shadow loomed over the group, and Rubi's laughter stopped immediately. A short-ish cliff (but still a _lot_ higher than a hill) stood in front of them. And Rubi knew that when an obstacle was in the way, you jump over it. She also knew it took demonic strength to perform that feat. Unfortunately, that was one thing she was sorely lacking today.

Just as the Demon Lord was picking up Jaken and preparing to jump, Rubi's lightning-fast mind kicked in and she fell to the ground with a little moan. Everyone stopped and looked at her.

"It was a huge rock, I think I just twisted my ankle," she squeezed her eyes shut and took in a sharp breath of air for good measure. _She _thought she looked pretty convincing.

"What is the matter with my servants today?" she could just here Sesshomaru muttering under his breath as he moved closer towards her. He bent down and, much to Rubi's surprise; he picked her up in both arms and jumped, carrying her with a miniscule amount of effort. He could probably carry hundreds of times her weight without even blinking.

Rubi felt warmness creeping up onto her cheeks. Why in the world was she blushing? Maybe because she had never been this close to him before, his armored chest pressing against her side? Or because she was utterly insane, as her thoughts this morning had already proven? Yep. Definitely the second one.

The usual night sounds were counting down the minutes. _It can't be that much longer_, Rubi thought as she lay upon her makeshift blanket-bed, listening. Three… two… one…

She felt a warm sensation start at her head, then rush down her neck, and before long it was felt in every one of her veins. It only lasted for a second or two, and when it had taken it's leave, Rubi reached over and grabbed a branch the thickness of her leg. She broke it clean in half with little effort.

"I'm back to normal."

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Review as always!


	3. Asleep in the Flowers

Chaaaaapter 3! This may seem quite odd, so please excuse the randomness of this chapter. In short, I felt like writing this, so I did. Review please? *puppy dog eyes*

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_Her tiredness suddenly overwhelmed her. Carefully collected flowers spilled everywhere; Rubi Tamasho fell to the ground among the flowers, and started sleeping like a log, looking very much like a fairy princess._

**-Asleep in the Flowers-**

Rubi was quite ready to fall asleep on her feet. The group, consisting of her, Jaken the toad demon, and the Demon Lord Sesshomaru, had been traveling together for about three months now. Rubi was pretty comfortable with both of them, though still a bit in awe around the Demon Lord. She had to say she loved her life right now, except for the fact that she was so tired.

They had been walking; though occasionally riding on a huge two-headed dragon named Ah-Un, who was had mainly been their pack beast from the moment they acquired him a fortnight ago; for three days straight. Even after the first two days, Rubi was okay thanks to her demonic strength (which allowed her to go for a few days without needing food or rest), but it was the night of the third, and she was _tired._ But she would never admit it.

"My lord Sesshomaru, this looks like a good place to stop! I can even smell the scent of that flower you were looking for!" said Jaken, and from his voice it was obvious he was quite tired too. Lord Sesshomaru paused for a moment and sniffed the air, then saying,

"You're right, for once. Yes, we will stop here; we have gotten farther than I had planned."

Rubi mentally sighed in relief, and put her shoulder bag down, knowing that she would have to help. She shivered, noticing it was much colder in this grove of trees than in the open air. Rubi was practically immune to heat, loving it even when it was boiling. But she couldn't be perfect, and Rubi felt the cold much more than others.

"Cold?" a voice asked from a few meters away. Lord Sesshomaru was giving her a knowing look, but not quite a smile. He hardly ever smiled. For some unknown reason, Rubi felt herself blushing.

"Um, no, I'm fine-"

"No you're not." He was already looking through a bag that was strapped to Ah-Un, and soon found what he was looking for. One of his kimonos that looked identical to the white and red one he was wearing now and when he had first chosen her. He motioned her over, and draped it around the fire youkai's shoulders. That was when Rubi _really _blushed, and had to turn away, while threading her arms through the flowing sleeves.

"Th-thank you my lord, you really didn't have to."

"Yes, I did," came the reply, and with that, Sesshomaru immediately disappeared into the forest, saying over his shoulder,

"Rubi, I expect you to collect some healing flowers once you are finished."

"Yes, my lord!" Rubi called back, her heart sinking. That would delay her sleep by a few hours. She wrapped the borrowed kimono closer around her, smelling it when Jaken wasn't looking. It had his scent all over it, reminding her of pine trees and the forest. She smiled.

One of Rubi's special powers that she could use even without the help of her staff was to start and control small fires. That skill came in handy when traveling. She snapped her fingers and a fire started on the small pile of wood she had gathered, and sat down for a minute, exhausted.

"Didn't Lord Sesshomaru say you had to do something?"

Rubi performed a sleepy death glare at Jaken. He smirked.

"Fine, yes he did, if _nobody_ wants me to get any sleep around here I guess that's fine…" she grunted and stood up. She would've _never_ talked to Lord Sesshomaru like that, but one of her favourite hobbies was teasing or annoying Jaken, so anything went when it came to him.

Rubi stopped at a creek on the way and splashed her face, hoping to wake herself up a bit. It half-worked. She still stumbled on, using her nose to locate the distinctive smell of the preciously rare healing flowers.

Rubi located them when she heard crunching beneath her feet. After examining the damage she did and much sleepy swearing, she noticed that there was still a patch as big as Ah-Un still untouched.

The flowers loosely resembled a rose in form, but were different shades of purple. Known for their extraordinary healing powers and rarity, many demons paid high prices for them. But Rubi had found some, and started picking as carefully as she could, collecting the flowers in a red cloth she had brought along and trying not to get the sleeves of the Demon Lord's kimono dirty .

Her tiredness suddenly overwhelmed her. Carefully collected flowers spilled everywhere; Rubi Tamasho fell to the ground among the flowers, and started sleeping like a log, looking very much like a fairy princess.

~***~

There was a slight rustling in the trees as Lord Sesshomaru stepped out of the shadows. He was looking forward to seeing the healing flowers, and noticed at once that the kansai youkai was nowhere to be seen. He looked around, he had remembered sending her about two hours ago.

"Where is Rubi?" he asked to Jaken, who was sitting by the fire eating some stew made of plants and pieces of rabbit.

"I have not seen the demoness since she went to gather the flowers quite a while ago, Sesshomaru-sama." He personally thought she had made a beeline for the nearest village to sell the Lord's kimono. It was made of the finest silk.

Sesshomaru merely closed his eyes and walked to the edge of the forest again. Her scent was the freshest here, and he planned to sniff her out, her scent and the smell of the flowers to help him. The Demon Lord did have amazingly good senses, for he was a daiyoukai, a dog demon.

She had defiantly gone this way. He had by then realized she was carrying his scent as well. Even easier.

He found the grove after only ten minutes searching. First he knelt and gathered the flowers that had spilled out of the red cloth, then gathered the sleeping Rubi in his arms and started on his way back.

Jaken was very alarmed that he would even hold the demoness again, and it showed on his face as Sesshomaru entered the clearing for the second time that night. He lay Rubi down with no comment to his vassal.

The fire demoness awoke a few hours later, noticing she still wore the Demon Lord's kimono. She stretched out a hand and waved it over the dying fire, and shut her eyes again. The scent of the now-healthy fire and the healing flower she held were enough to send her falling back into the depths of sleep.

-End


	4. A Daring Little Girl

Enter........ Rin!!! Oh my god I love her... second favourite character! Loves reviews as always!

Oh, and I've forgotten to do this in the last chappies. Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Inuyasha, I only own Rubi, my other own characters and the plot.

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_The last things she remembered was thinking _Lord Sesshomaru please don't transform now_, the smell of blood and something about not eating human food before she slipped into the blackness again. _

**- A Daring Little Girl - **

It was as if Rubi's legs were cemented to the ground. No matter how much she wanted to run and stand in front of Lord Sesshomaru, it was impossible.

She still thought the fight with InuYasha was pretty pointless. It was Lord Sesshomaru's third attempt to acquire Tetsusaiga from his younger brother, and even though the elder was much more powerful, being full demon, his half-demon brother managed to thwart his efforts each and every time.

But when she saw the Wind Scar coming fast as lightning towards the Demon Lord, Rubi, for the first time in a battle with Sesshomaru, was scared. But not for herself, since she was conveniently paralyzed on the sidelines, unable to do anything but watch.

At the start of the battle, Sesshomaru had been commenting on how InuYasha would never be able to kill him if he hadn't mastered the true power of the Tetsusaiga – the Wind Scar. But now, the fabled attack was coming straight at him, and he hadn't noticed yet. When he did it would be too late.

Suddenly she was free. "SESSHOMARU-SAMA!" Rubi cried, running as fast as her demonic strength allowed her over to him, and then clinging onto his arm. For some unknown reason, she felt herself blushing, in the middle of battle no less. He looked forward, his eyes widening.

"I did not ask for you to die with me!" he hissed.

"Sorry," Rubi murmured as the force of InuYasha's attack hit them.

She clung on tight as it engulfed them. But then a black light was there, radiating out from a point near Rubi's stomach. She looked down in what she assumed was her body's last motion, and saw that it came from Tenseiga, the sword carried by Sesshomaru. He never once used it, since it did not kill. It was a sword of healing and saving lives –

As the light surrounded them, everything went black.

A little human girl in a tattered, bloodstained kimono walked through the forest. _Where am I?_ She thought, then realized that she didn't care that much. She would be able to find her way back, from the trail of blood she left if nothing else. All Rin wanted was to escape the pain for at least a little while.

The special clearing. There it was, the one she usually spent most of her day in. But wait… there were people in it!

They were sleeping. Blood covered the man's white kimono, and some of it had rubbed off on the woman next to him. _They must have been in some kind of battle_. _Maybe they could use some food…?_

A little while later, Rin had gathered some grain from the fields beside her village. It was all she could find. Maybe they weren't there anymore? But judging from the state of them, they didn't seem to be going anywhere.

Rin wasn't disappointed. She walked over to them, trying to be as quiet as she could. But to no avail.

The man in white snapped up, eyes turning as red as the blood he was covered in. He bared his teeth, growling.

Rin took a step back, but stood her ground. She was more intrigued than afraid. _He's not human…_

He stopped as abruptly as he had started. His eyes turned back to brilliant amber, and he lay back down on the small mountain of fur he was resting in. Rin took this opportunity to advance and set the grains, which were resting on a leaf, about a foot away from him and the lady, who she now realized was in her late teenage years. She hadn't woken up, but shifted a bit in her sleep.

"I don't eat human food."

The man, who Rin had now decided was something the villagers called a demon, had spoken in an almost velvet-like voice. She couldn't find the words to answer. It had been like that for months. Her voice didn't seem to work, so she just smiled at him and walked out of the clearing._ I'll be back tomorrow!_ She thought happily.

Rubi floated in and out of consciousness, not really keeping track of time, but her inward clock told her at least a day had passed. All she knew that she was laying propped up against what felt like a tree, with another presence beside her.

She was awake again now, just peering out at a blurring world from underneath her lashes. A miniscule movement triggered her attention, and Rubi fought for her vision to remain steady. _What, or who, was it? _It was obviously not the person beside her, since their clothing was still brushing her skin.

And then it all came back.

Wasn't she supposed to be dead? What about the Wind Scar? What was that black light? What was up with Tenseiga? Why was she now lying in a forest?

Rubi heard footsteps approaching. She instantly felt her body tense, ready for a fight.

There was a quick movement beside her, the person. She caught a flash of white kimono, and red eyes. The kansai youkai remembered the giant dog-form that the Demon Lord transformed into when in battle, when he lost control or wanted to put up an even bigger fight. The last things she remembered was thinking _Lord Sesshomaru please don't transform now,_ the smell of bloodand something about not eating human food before she slipped into the blackness again.

She was woken again by a soft shaking.

"Rubi, wake up!"

"Lord Sesshomaru-sama? Where are we? What _happened?_"

"It seems as though Tenseiga's barrier saved us. Come, we must hurry," and he disappeared into the forest.

Rubi followed as fast as she could. _So that explains the black light,_ she thought, _but what about the movement? And I'm sure someone said something about human food._ On the way out of the clearing she tripped over something wet and slimy.

"Gross…" she murmured then saw it was a fish, laid out on a leaf acting as a plate. It was no accident that it was put there. _Human food…_ she would ask when they stopped.

"It _was_ a test! Lord Sesshomaru didn't know that the sword wouldn't cut me! That mangy _dog!_"

They crept up on Jaken, who was standing on the back of Ah-Uh, back facing them. Rubi grabbed a rock and mimed throwing it at Jaken. Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows, a ghost of a smile flitting across his face. He nodded once.

Rubi took aim, and launched it across the field, hitting the toad demon squarely in the back of the head. Before he had even turned around fully, another one came at him from Sesshomaru. The two demons walked slowly out of the forest.

From the look on his face, Jaken knew he was in deep trouble. Rubi smirked even more, if that was possible.

"Milord, I didn't mean- it was a complete misunderstanding-"

Rubi heard a muttered "_Feh_" and was having a hard time holding in the laughter. But the Demon Lord stiffened, and she grew quiet at once.

"I smell… familiar blood," he murmured, and raced off in the direction of the scent, Rubi and Jaken close behind.

A girl lying in a pool of her own blood was the sight that met them. The blood soaked everything, from her torn kimono to her long blackish-brown hair, loose except for a clump off to one side near the top of her head. It didn't take a dog demon to smell the scent of wovles, and therefore know the cause of her death.

"Oh!" Rubi exclaimed and knelt on the ground beside her. A pulse… anything? She felt tears well up in her eyes, but refused to show them in front of the Demon Lord.

"F-familiar blood, milord?" Jaken asked, confused. Rubi was still speechless.

"I have encountered this human before. In the clearing- she offered us food." The pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place. Rubi felt herself slipping closer to tears. _This girl… she tried to save us, but met her own end soon after. Some of these wounds… they aren't fresh. She was hurt before…too._

"My lord… is there _anything _we could do?"

Rubi felt stupid. Of course there wasn't, she was already dead. Maybe give her a proper burial?

Sesshomaru was already walking away. Rubi made to follow him, but he suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked back.

"There is… one thing," he said almost too soft for her to hear. He drew Tenseiga. _A sword of healing… healing though, not bringing back the dead…?_

The air was very still, and a forboding shodow seemed to cover them all. The Demon Lord slashed the sword at nothing but air, the air surrounding the girl.

"Lord Sesshomaru, what are you doing?" Jaken asked, but got no answer. The air was clear again, and Sesshomaru knelt beside Rubi, their shoulders touching, and picked up the girl. The fire demoness felt an electirc shock through his touch. This was no time for going insane. A sharp intake of breath.

All thoughts left her mind as the bloodsoaked, dead girl opened her eyes.

"Is she…_alive?"_

"I believe so. Come, now," and he placed the now-smiling girl in the dirt, straightened up and resumed walking as if nothing had happened.

"I cannot believe it… he saved a mere _human_… milord, wait up!" and with that, Jaken hurried after Lord Sesshomaru.

The girl made to follow, but it was clear it cost her an awful lot of pain. Rubi bent down again, and picked her up gently, and was met with a smile. The demoness immediately liked her. _If she wants to come with us, she is welcome._ Rubi started walking, then breaking into an effortless jog to catch up.

"What is your name?"

"Rin," in a voice that was hoarse with lack of use, but still rang with the bell-sounds of childhood. Seven years, maybe?

"Don't worry," Rubi whispered back, "you're safe with us."

-End


	5. You Love Him!

Ooooooh, and we finally see some action. Ah, little kids... don'tcha just love 'em? And Rin may be the cutest of them all! ^^ Reviews are treasured! And a HUGE thanks to all the people who've reviewed, and to all the people who have even just read all the chappies! Looove you guys!

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**_I want to be your girlfriend,_**

**_I want to be your new love,_**

**_I want to be the one that you can't get enough of,_**

**_I want to be your girlfriend, _**

**_Nobody else's but yours,_**

**_I want to be the one that you'd do anything for…_**

**~ "You Love Him!"~**

Making dinner for a human was not fun. Rubi didn't have a clue what they liked best, and she didn't know how much they ate. Especially a seven-year-old girl.

The human girl Rin had been traveling with them for some weeks now. Rubi now classified her as the little sister she never had. Very, very cute, lots annoying but still so cute you really couldn't hold it against her. She had become very talkative in the first few days, always pestering Rubi to show her the demoness's fire powers, annoying Jaken the most of all, and reserving a special awe for the Demon Lord. Rubi had thought that he didn't take that much of a liking to humans, but he had been extremely tolerant of Rin, occasionally carrying her and letting her cuddle his mokamoka.

A sound so quiet she had to strain her demonic hearing to make it out came to Rubi then. It sounded like… _sobbing?_

She leaped through the halls of the abandoned house they were sheltering from the rain in. It came from the bedroom she was sharing with Rin.

The girl herself was huddled up in a ball on the floor, crying silently. Rubi made her way to Rin's side, taking her in her arms with the effort of lifting a feather.

"Rin-chan," she murmured softly, "What's the matter?"

"My p-parents… a-and brother…"

Rin had never said a word about her heritage before. Rubi was curious, as well as concerned.

"What happened? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, though."

She looked up at the fire demoness through wet lashes. "They… were k-killed… right in front of me by a… pack of wolves."

People had always looked after Rubi, but never in her life had she looked after another. All she could do in response was hug the small girl tighter, being careful not to squish her.

"Why don't we… hmm…"

"Go play in the mud outside? It'll be nice and runny, 'cause it's raining right now!" Rin looked up hopefully with eyes circled in red rings, though crying stopped for the moment being. Rin was under orders not to get her yellow and orange checkered kimono dirty, but Rubi couldn't resist the little girl's face. She gave in.

"Fine, go kill your kimono in the dirt. But if Lord Sesshomaru-sama gets angry, don't look at me to defend you!" The youkai tried a stern face, and failed miserably.

"Out you go then!" Rubi said, pointing to the door. Rin pouted, and Rubi wasn't exactly sure why. One thing was certain though, she didn't want more tears.

"You have to come with me, and help me," the girl stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Be serious, Rin-chan."

"I am!"

"Oh, lord help me!" and Rubi was literally dragged out to the front of the house in search of a satisfying mud hole.

"Oh my _god_, look at my kimono! It's _filthy_! You're going to pay!"

Rubi launched herself at Rin playfully, causing the girl to fall on the floor gently, and then causing the floor to get covered in mud as well. Rubi groaned.

Then started tickling her. Rin drew a breath.

"R-"

"Shhhh!" Rubi put a hand to Rin's mouth. "Lord Sesshomaru said he was doing something important!"

"He never said we couldn't yell!" was the reply, but in a whispered voice this time.

"Yes, but I don't want him to know we're here!"

"But he said that I could get this kimono dirty! I _asked_ him!"

"I know! But look at _me_! I'm not exactly presentable!"

Rin looked deep in thought for a few seconds, and then a sly smile came and planted itself on her face. Rubi hadn't a clue what she was about to say, but she knew it couldn't be good.

"You love him, don't you?"

The only answer Rubi could think of was to stare blankly back at Rin. _Why would a seven-year-old accuse me of having a crush on the Demon Lord Sesshomaru?_ She had absolutely no idea of the answer. She didn't _love_ him. She admired his skill and power.

"No, I don't for your information, thank you very much."

"Yes you _do._"

"Prove it."

"Well…" and Rin started listing quite a lot of things. "You won't make eye contact that much."

"Out of respect!" Rubi insisted.

"You smile a lot when he's around."

"I'm allowed to be happy!"

"You blushed when your arms touch."

Rubi decided not to inform Rin of what happened the time he carried her. "And now you don't want him to see you looking much like a bog demon." Rubi vaguely wondered how a little girl could be so observant. But she had to admit, most of those things had a tiny, miniscule sliver of truth hidden inside them.

"Just admit it! I won't tell him, I promise!"

Observant _and_ stubborn. Great.

"I really don't-"

Lord Sesshomaru himself walked into the room. Rubi turned as red as the fire she controlled, mind working furiously and hoping that he hadn't heard a word of the conversation. Her mind, thankfully, was working quite fine today.

"I really don't want you to ever do that again!" She eyed Rin meaningly. Rubi was referring to the state of her kimono, making it look like Rin jumped on her or something like that. Rin went along with it. The demoness had to give it to the little girl, she was quite smart.

"Okay, I'm sorry Rubi-sama," she replied in a meek little voice. She smiled evilly behind his back. Rubi raised her eyebrows.

Sesshomaru took in the scene with nothing more than an occasional blink.

"I hope you did not ruin Rubi's kimono, Rin."

"No, Sesshomaru-sama."

He fixed Rubi in place with his eyes, as if to say "is this true?"

Her mind took a sudden holiday. It was completely blank. Rubi looked down, her face burning.

And then she imagined a most interesting image. In her uncalled-for daydream, Sesshomaru walked over to her, put one arm around her and used the other one to tilt her face up, his lips brushing her forehead. He looked back into her eyes, and smiled, truly smiled. Rubi had never seen this happen before, so her mind had only imagination to go on. It looked quite peculiar on his face, like it belonged to someone else.

She was brought back to the present by the slight creaking sounds of the Demon Lord walking out of the room. She waited until he was well out of demonic hearing distance, and then flopped onto her blanket-bed on the floor.

"Okay, you win."

"What?" though by the look on her face, Rin knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I like him a lot. Hmm… that might have been the understatement of the year."

Rin looked victorious. "Well, we'll have to get busy."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We want to have those stripes and the moon on your face too by the end of the year!" She skipped off merrily.

"Stripes… moon… demonic markings… _mating?_ Do you even know what that _means?_ I think it's time for you to pay for what you did to my kimono! _Come back here!_"

Rubi ran after Rin, Rin screaming like only a seven-year-old-girl could. The kansai youkai knew she was in big trouble now. She had fallen for the worst possible demon, the Lord of the Western Lands himself. She could never have him, whatever Rin-chan said.

**- End**


	6. A Close Encounter With Death

This is a longer one than most, so there ya go!! I really like it... very dramatic. ^^ And I'd love to thank everyone whose read it, because now I officially have 100 views!! Thankies sooooo much!!! Reviews, anyone??

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_Rubi felt a cold despair in her chest. _He's full demon. I'll never be able to beat him._ She was the only fit one, though. Rin only seven and a human. Jaken with strength hardly more than Rin's. Sesshomaru gravely injured. Rubi squared her shoulders, looking back at Sesshomaru. Tears welled up in her eyes as she had a feeling this was the last time she'd do so. _Goodbye, I love you…

_Rubi Tamasho walked calmly into battle._

**~A Close Encounter with Death~**

"That should do it. Now, to find the camp again…"

Rubi had just finished her job helping out the demons in that village. She had been preparing stews and soups all morning for a shop, to earn money. She really didn't have to, since Lord Sesshomaru said that he would supply her with everything she needed, but the demoness hated having to rely on him like some ten year old. She wanted to have her own supply of money.

Rubi raced back in the general direction of the camp. Rin would want to play tag or something like that very soon. She was amazingly good at amusing herself, and at being observant, as Rubi had found out a fortnight ago.

A familiar scent found its way to Rubi.

"Wait… I smell blood! Sesshomaru-sama's blood!"

She pushed herself to go faster, bitterly wishing she was full demon. She knew she would look pretty silly if she rushed into the camp demanding to know what the matter was when all he had done was cut himself, but he rarely did careless things like that. Rin and Jaken's scent came to her then, though the blood scent still overpowered everything. Good, she was almost at the camp.

Rubi nearly collided with Rin, who was running in the opposite direction. The youkai stopped herself just in time, for the impact would have been fatal to the human girl.

"Rin, what is happening?"

Rin spoke in a rush. "Rubi, its Lord Sesshomaru. He started battling this other demon that attacked him, but the other one's really strong. I was running to the village to tell you, even though he said that he's fine by himself…" She looked miserable because she had disobeyed orders. The orders, though, were the last thing on Rubi's mind.

"How long ago was this?"

"Ten minutes, maybe more…"

Rubi swore. She had studied battles in school, and knew how long it took to end one. A matter of seconds.

"Stay here, and don't follow me, okay?" and she was off, following the scent of the blood.

Rubi burst through the trees and into the field.

Just in time to see Sesshomaru's leg slashed open.

She stopped in her tracks, frozen. _She was too late._ Rubi urged her legs to move forward.

The Demon Lord pushed off on his good leg, his other trailing limply behind him, blood flowing freely from it. His hakama was already the bright red of his kimono shoulders.

And landed a killing blow to the demon, using his poison claw attack.

Rubi couldn't tell what race of demon it was, since it was in human form at the present. It fell back, and across the ground, stopping about four meters from its death spot. Sesshomaru fell to his knees. Rubi could hear his ragged breathing from where she stood.

_He beat them! He never gives up._

She ran over, hearing familiar shouts behind her. So they didn't listen. Rubi didn't care that much, overjoyed at her lord's survival. She was at his side in seconds.

"Are you alright, Sesshomaru-sama?" Stupid question. Of course he wasn't.

He looked at her, nodded once and sat down, tenderly moving his injured leg. The flow of blood increased.

"Sesshomaru-sama, you're hurt." Rin had come up behind Rubi, her eyes huge at the amount of spilled blood. Jaken came next.

"Milord, you mustn't move! We all must-"

"I'll bring everything here on Ah-Un," Rubi stated, and knelt down beside him. The touch of his shoulder on hers sent an electric shock through her whole body. Her heart sped up so fast she was certain it'd burst out of her chest and well into the sky. _This was no time to think about my love for him._

The demoness stood up. And sensed a demonic aura. She spun so fast her shape blurred.

And that's when Rubi saw the other demon.

It came up over the hill, its eyes enraged with fury from the sight of its dead friend. Rubi could tell now that it was an ice demon. Hair a bit whiter than Sesshomaru's, with piercing blue eyes and pale skin. He drew a thin, silver sword from the sheath by his waist.

Rubi felt a cold despair in her chest. _He's full demon. I'll never be able to beat him._ She was the only capable one, though. Rin only seven and a human. Jaken with strength hardly more than Rin's. Sesshomaru gravely injured. Rubi squared her shoulders, looking back at Sesshomaru. Tears welled up in her eyes, as she had a feeling this was the last time she'd see him._ Goodbye, I love you…_

Rubi Tamasho walked calmly into battle.

She gripped her staff tightly, remembering the attacks and defenses that she'd been taught in school. _Fire wall, flame sphere, maybe blood boil will come in handy…_ she was trying to distract herself from facing the prospect of her own death.

The ice demon ran at Rubi. She brought her staff up in front of her face lightning-fast, though almost not fast enough. The impact of sword against staff rang throughout the air, and pushed Rubi back a few inches. _Damn it…_

She twirled her staff around, pushing the sword off, then jumped and made to land behind the demon. But he anticipated her move, and ran, sword raised, at the exact spot. Rubi just leapt out of the way before the sharp piece of metal came down on the grass, cutting a trench through the ground. _He's way too fast!_

"Stop, Rubi, don't fight!" Rin called out from the sidelines. "Run, we'll get away!"

_She's obviously forgotten Lord Sesshomaru's condition,_ thought Rubi grimly. She was numb, waiting for the death blow without thinking. _I'll give a demonic attack a try._

"Fire wall!" and the kansai youkai slammed the staff's bottom point into the ground.

Multiple walls of fire radiated out from all directions around her. Rubi's eyes widened. _The attack was at least two times stronger, actually almost hitting him…_

Her mind flashed back to a school lesson years ago. The master was lecturing about different degrees of power, and Rubi felt like these few sentences were meant for her.

"The human race is one of the most arrogant races of all, much more than us. And they are particularly more powerful when they have someone to protect. So, though hanyous are obviously less powerful than full youkais, when a half-demon has a being to protect, their power increases greatly, to almost double."

_And when they have three to protect…_

"I… will… WIN!" Rubi screamed and threw herself at the demon. Her staff blurred around her, the sword parrying it each time. The ice youkai's left hand claw raced to make contact with Rubi's face.

A burst of pain, and blood blinded her for a minute. She backed away a few feet quickly. A ragged gash stretched the width of her face, across the bridge of her nose, blood dripping down her face. Rubi tasted the metallic taste of her own blood in her mouth. It made her much angrier.

She just managed to get a defensive ball of fire, or flame sphere, around her before he attacked again.

Sesshomaru watched this all, secretly worried. If she died, her mother would hold him responsible. He thought of her, lying on the ground, her body broken. A part of him seemed to be… missing.

He tried to stand up again. If it were the two of them, they would surely win. But his injured leg gushed more blood, and the dulled pain became needle-sharp again. It would be stupid to push it. _Dodge that, yes, now slash at his right side, its unprotected… _why was she so slow?

Rubi spun, slashed and hit with both her staff and claws. _An opening, on his right side…_

At the exact moment she swung her staff around to land the death blow into the demon's chest, and felt the solid flesh beneath her staff point, a pain so intense her vision clouded, engulfed her. Vision regained for a moment, Rubi looked down, and saw the sword blade plunged deep into her lower abdomen. She knew she was dying, and embraced it with open arms, if it was an escape from the terrible pain she was enduring at the present. It felt as if she was getting torn limb from limb, into little pieces…

Rubi's vision blackened as she fell and hit the ground with a dull thump, simultaneously with the dead ice demon.

Rin gasped and ran forward. Sesshomaru's eyes widened. He could hear Rubi's fading heartbeat from here, and she was rapidly dying. Tenseiga was out of the question, since he couldn't even rise. Jaken had run over to Rubi's crumpled form as well. Huge, salty tears were brimming in the human girl's chocolate brown eyes, and falling with soft splashes onto the ground below.

The Demon Lord put one hand in front of the other, and dragged himself over the few meters left between him and the dying fire youkai. The fiery tendrils of pain that shot through his entire body were almost too much to bear, but his mind was surprisingly clear. There was one thing left that could possibly save her now.

He finally made it to Rubi's side. Rin now looked at him through wet eyes. He could easily smell her fear scent. The two adults were both injured. Hope was soon to be lost.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes, measuring how much strength he had left. It was all he could do to keep from losing too much blood and dying, but he thought of Rubi, violet eyes wide with joy, twirling around a field dotted with cherry blossom trees, dancing with Rin. _She would get that chance again._ He summoned the last of his seemingly never-ending strength. He did not know why he was doing this, why he was willingly saving someone, possibly at the cost of his own life. She wasn't special. There were many demonesses more beautiful and much more powerful than her. But he felt a crystal clear need to, and followed it instinctively.

"This may kill me, this may not," he whispered much too quietly for either Jaken or Rin to hear. The Great Dog Demon Lord put a hand on Rubi's chest, over her heart, and willed all his remaining strength to go flowing into her.

A faint blue light glowed around his hand, and then Sesshomaru too fell onto the ground and ceased moving.

Rubi opened her eyes, and was met by a reddish glow. She turned her head this way and that, but it was all she could see. Was she blind? She didn't think so. The youkai had a fairly good idea that she was standing, but had no memory of how she got that way. So this was completely in her head…?

A patch of the walls of her "mind" (as she now liked to think of them) disappeared.

A black abyss took it's place. That was the only way Rubi could describe it. Just an open expanse of nothing… and it was suckig her in.

She now remembered everything. The huge chest wound. Rubi was dying. Was the abyss death? It pulled her in, tugging at her hair, her travelling outfit, her very being…

_No, I don't want to die._

Rubi tried backing up the opposite direction. But the compelling pull was too much. All the same, she clung to life.

_I want to see Sesshomaru again._

She had been so steeled up, ready to die. But now that she was faced with the actual prospect, she realized she would give anything to see the Demon Lord again. She was so in love with him.

_I need something to hold onto._

As if her mind had heard her plea (and it probably did), a hand reached out of the side ajacent to the abyss. It was extended, reaching for her. A way out of death. The arm had two magenta stripes wrapped around the wrist. _Sesshomaru's hand?_

Rubi instinctively grabbed it. Warm, with a strong grip. It felt like a sheet of silk wrapped tightly over muscule harder than rock.

His hand dragged her away from her death. Surprisingly, it was stronger than the pull of the yawning abyss.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama," she whispered as the blackness started to cloud her vision again.

There they were, lying on the ground. The two adults Rin loved most. Broken, probably dead. The tears flowed faster.

"My- my lord?" Jaken's eyes widened.

"They're dead! _Dead,_ Master Jaken!" she fell to her knees, her already tear-stained kimono receiving more salty drops. She gently grabbed a strand of her lord's silver hair, which shone in the last rays of afternoon sunlight.

_They were so perfect for each other, _Rin thought, _Maybe they will find each other's love up in heaven._

She crouched down and hid her face. Jaken just stood there, unsure of what to do next. Did this make him leader of the group? He had been hatched to serve Lord Sesshomaru. What did he do when his lord had ceased to exsist?

He was brought out of his thoughts quite suddenly when Rubi's violet eyes opened.

"R-Rin…" he squeaked. The human uncovered her face and gasped.

"Rubi!" she exclaimed, though the happiness of the moment wasn't quite there, just utter ashonishment. The Demon Lord was still dead.

Rubi felt as though she had fallen off a high place into a huge river, then gotten battered around in the rapids for awhile. Every bone in her body felt broken. The pain of the huge gash in her chest was stronger than ever. But she would survive. She was _alive_.

"Ri-in… J-Jaken… we need t-to get back-k to camp. Lift me u-up on… Ah-Un," for the two-headed dragon was standing there a few meters away.

After much struggle to place the fire demoness on Ah-Un, Jaken and Rin jumped on too. Rubi had fallen unconcious again.

Rin looked back at Lord Sesshomaru's body. It looked rather pathetic, lying in the dirt, a mere shadow of his former glory. The little girl felt terrible about leaving it there, but there was no extra space on the dragon.

"We'll come back for you, Sesshomaru-sama," she whispered, tears still in her eyes, as they winged their way back to the camp.

Rubi awoke to the sound of a crackling fire. That was strange. She was the main fire producer. But she realized, after a moment of thought, that that was quite a stupid idea. Just because the other's powers didn't involve fire, doesn't mean that they couldn't start a fire.

_The others._ What happened to them? Jaken and Rin… a bit shaken, but overall fine. What about Sesshomaru?

"You're awake! Drink this, Rubi-chan…" Rin stood over her, a pottery cup in her hand. A forced look of happiness lingered on her face. Her eyes were swollen, and Rubi could smell fresh tears. _But aren't we all safe…?_

Rubi smlied. "Why the tears, Rin-chan? Everybody's fine, right?"

Rin looked down, tears rolling down her cherry blossom cheeks. Rubi's heart beat faster.

"Oh no, w-what happened to Sesshomaru-sama?"

"D-dead," sobbed Rin, and she flung herself into the youkai's arms. The force hurt Rubi's chest, which hadn't even begun to heal, but the little girl's words tore Rubi's heart in two. Who cares if she was alive, if the one she secretly loved so much was dead? Tears rolled down her cheeks too, her violet eyes glistening.

She looked past Rin's little ponytail, to where Jaken sat by the fire, deep in thought. Rubi knew that her eyes had a wildly hopeful look in them, wondering if he had anything, _anything_ to say to contradict Rin's horrible words. He shook his head. Nothing.

The distraught fire demoness refused the tea, and the bread Rin offered her later. _Now I will never know what would've happened if I had told him I loved him. We could have lived happily, maybe, been mates…_ another little sob escaped her. Rubi curled herself into a tighter ball against the tree she was leaning up against, trying to accept the fact that she would never see Lord Sesshomaru again.

It was at that point that a demonic aura reached her, such a powerful one it took her breath away. Her acute eyesight picked up the slightest movement in the bushes a few meters away. They were being stalked.

Rubi stood up suddenly, causing her to double over in pain. She then started packing things up, moving around the startled Rin and Jaken so fast her image blurred. When eveything was ready to go on Ah-Un, the demoness waved one hand over the fire, causing it to go out immediatly, and stood waiting with a look of surpressed pain evident on her face.

"Rubi, no, you shouldn't have got up, you're not strong enough- ah!" for Rubi had picked the toad demon and Rin up and placed them on the two-headed dragon too, and started running, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

"I saw something, movement in the bushes."

"No, we can stop and fight! Master Jaken can flame the thing with his staff! Don't, Rubi-"

"Rin-chan, we can't. I'm doing this for you."

They ran for around twenty minutes, the demon behind them keeping up easily. Rubi's chest felt like it was being torn open, the pain was almost as bad as when the wound had been inflicted. She knew it wasn't much longer until she was rendered unconcious. There was only one other option. Turn and fight.

Rubi stopped and voiced her choice of action.

"_No,_ Rubi-chan, you can't do that! You'll die, surely-"

"Rin, I want to protect you and Jaken, who I hold dear in my heart. I _need_ to. Please don't object, because you know I will give my life for you."

Rin sobbed, and the toad demon just stared, eyes wide. He hadn't known that Rubi would volunteerily give her life for him.

Rubi turned around and took a deep breath, gripping her staff in sweaty hands. She had hardly any strength at all, and was about to collapse on the hard dirt any minute, but she was protecting people, and that had to count for _something._

Walking forwards, conserving energy, Rubi quicky masked her face in shadows and covered her scent by muttering an incantation that she had been taught a long time ago. It wouldn't help for the attacker to have any clue to who she was, and what her powers were.

_A straight and in-your-face attack would be the best action, since they wouldn't be expecting that, _she thought. The kansai youkai ran full-out at the demon, staff raised and gripped in both hands for maximum strength.

Her fire-staff made a funny, clanging sound as it smashed against a sword.

A _highly familiar _sword.

That was when Rubi saw the face of the wielder.

His face was smudged with dirt and dried blood. His hair wasn't as immaculatly groomed as it normally was. Rubi could pick out a few tangles. His kimono was even more bloodstained, and there was a large rip in the right hakama leg, which set Rubi's heart beating faster and her cheeks glowing pink. But here he was. All in one piece. Lord Sesshomaru.

Her incantation and staff dropped in surprise. When he saw who it was, his usually emotionless eyes grew wider as well. Tokijin fell to his waist.

"L-Lord SESSHOMARU!" and Rubi flung herself at him, intending to hug him. But escaping from death's grip hadn't been an easy thing to do, and his remaining strength was no match for her excited assult, which sent them both tumbling onto the ground. Rubi's hands caught herself instinctively, but she was mainly sprawled out on his armoured chest, her face dangerously close to the spikes that decorated his left shoulder.

The demoness sprang off as quickly as she had landed, falling to the ground a few inches away from him. Rubi's cheeks were burning like the fire she controlled.

Rin and Jaken, who of course had called their lord's name and ran to see him when they had saw who it was, were standing a foot away. Rin was having a very hard time trying to control her laughter. Sesshomaru was looking at Rubi with eyebrows slightly raised. She could swear she even saw a ghost of a smile grace his face.

When they had both stood up, dusted themselves off and started back to the camp (which was now about a kilometer away) Rin pestered the Demon Lord with countless questions about how he had survived. Rubi walked on the human girl's other side, refusing to meet Sesshomaru's gaze.

"We thought you were dead, Sesshomaru-sama! How did you survive?"

"This Sesshomaru was not dead, merely unconcious. I woke up some hours later, and searched you out."

Rin shot a sneaky glance at Rubi. "You saved Rubi, right? Why did you do that?"

Rubi didn't think he would answer, or would say in his own way that it was none of her buisness, but she was wrong.

"She is under my charge, and it is my duty to watch over her."

The demoness felt like some child, that she couldn't look after herself in the slightest. But at the same time, she felt better knowing that there was someone looking out for her, someone she loved.

When they arrived at the camp, Rubi started a fire and walked into the cover of the woods to bandage her chest wound. When she returned, Rin was helping Jaken make more herbal tea and Sesshomaru was lying against a tree, mokamoka draped around his shoulders, firelight flickering across his perfect face. From the rip in his hakama, she could see his leg was cleaned and tightly bandaged. Rubi vaguely wondered how he had had time to do that, but not caring as much as she would've normally. She just wanted to go to to sleep.

As she sat down, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"For curiousity's sake, what were your actions when when you had discovered I had ceased living?"

Rubi had not expected a question like this, and was caught off guard, but composed herself quickly.

"I was grieving, but was fully ready to take on the leadership of the group."

Rin stopped making the tea. "Actually, Rubi-chan wouldn't eat, woudn't sleep and was crying her eyes out for you, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Well…" Rubi watched in an embarassed silence while he "hmm"ed and closed his eyes again. Then she glared at Rin, livid. The little girl smiled innocently and went back to the tea.

Oh well. All was good again, nobody had been claimed by death today, though there were several close encounters. Fire demoness Rubi Tamasho closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

**-End**


	7. What I Can Never Have

I really like this chappy! Especially the name. This is actually the first chapter where the plot extends to more than one. Enjoy, and do I see reviews out there? I appreciate them so much!

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"_Rubi, I want to talk to you."_

_Talk to her? Oh no. Had he found out her half-demon secret, and was about to throw her out? Or kill her? Or even worse still, did he somehow know that she was madly in love with him? Rubi bit her lip, waiting…_

**~ What I Can Never Have ~**

A knock at the door came, when Rubi was just finishing up mending Rin's checkered kimono while she had gone bathing in the hot springs. The fire demoness was glad things had basically gone back to normal after the startling events of two weeks ago. Travelling around, village to village, forest to forest. It was the start of summer now, with the flurries and rains of winter not more than a memory. The sun shone almost every day, and from Rin and Jaken's complaining it was becoming hot, although Rubi couldn't confirm that theory since she was immune to all heat. Things had been a bit awkward between her and Lord Sesshomaru for the first couple of days, but now was back to normal as well. Rubi was just so glad he was alive, and decided not to take anyone's life for granted anymore.

The youkai walked to the door of the medium-sized house they occupied at the moment, opening it and looking into the face of a well-dressed demon messenger, stating that he was delivering an important letter. Must be for Lord Sesshomaru.

"An invitation for the Lord of the Western Lands," and he handed her a creamy rice paper envelope with just a hint of cherry-blossom pink. The handwriting on the front was indeed addressed to the Dog Demon Lord, his name spelled in immaculate cursive writing.

"An invitation for what-" Rubi started, but then realized he was gone. She retreated into the house again, pushing aside the curtain that separated her room from the main living room, and sat down on her bed, looking at the mysterious letter. Should she open it? Rubi had to admit, she was burning with curiosity. Who could have sent such a fancy thing to him? A demoness? At the mention of that thought, Rubi's fists tightened and a huge wave of jealousy overtook her. But she couldn't picture him even paying attention to any lovesick female (and believe me, Rubi passionately wished that wasn't true) so she pushed that thought out of her head.

Maybe from one of the other three rulers of Japan, the Lords of the Northern, Eastern and Southern Lands? A possibility. Rubi decided to open it and blame it on Jaken. The youkai just wanted to read it too badly.

None of her assumptions were correct. She didn't exactly know who it was from, but she had a very good idea what it was about.

In all of Japan, there was never a dance that could compete with the glamourous Ball of Powers. A dance that happened every three years, it was demons only, and only the most powerful and famous demons at that. Every time it happened, invitations were sent out to all the royal and most powerful demons or demonesses. About two hundred were invited. It was the ball that every little demoness, Rubi included, dreamed of attending one day, on their mate's arm as they walked down the golden hall into the ballroom and gardens it was held in. It was required that you have a partner to attend with, but they need not be your mate. Some just went with friends, or with people they hardly knew just so they could participate.

And Sesshomaru was officially invited.

Of course he would be. He was one of the four Demon Lords of Japan. Rubi wondered who he would take. Not her. She imagined him walking down the golden hall, all eyes on him, with a stunningly beautiful demoness on his arm. Yes, they looked perfect for each other, but it made Rubi's eyes well up with tears. _Stop it,_ she told herself, _stop wanting him. He is simply what I can never have._

Movement in the main room made Rubi get up and walk in. A minute too late, she realized she was still holding the invitation. The fire youkai sat down on a cushion and handed it to Lord Sesshomaru, who was leaning against the wall. A half-smile played across his lips. He guessed correctly that it was she who opened it.

Rin ran over from where she was playing some game with Jaken.

"Ooh, what is it Lord Sesshomaru-sama?"

He had already finished scanning it and handed it to her. Rubi felt a bit better since he wasn't trying to keep it private.

"A ball? Wow! Aw, I wish I was invited…" and Rin walked across the room to Jaken again, doing a few ballroom-type twirls along the way. She started the game, but it was clear her mind was on other things.

"So are you going to go?" Rubi asked.

"It would be showing disrespect to my title if I did not," he answered, and was standing in one fluid motion. "Get prepared to leave, Rubi. We will be gone before midday," and he walked off into his room.

And that's how they had ended up here, in this village not too far away from where the Ball of Powers was always held. Sesshomaru had never told them the purpose of this visit outright, but Rubi was fairly certain she knew what it was. It was obvious that he was looking for a demoness to take to the Ball of Powers, and not just any demoness. He needed one that was fit to be seen on his arm, one of intelligence, power and beauty. Rubi snorted. Fat chance he'd get all of those in one.

She kicked a rock, watching the arc it made as it flew through the air. It was just so unfair. Why did she have to be born half-demon? Maybe, if she was a full kansai youkai, with the characteristic long, flowing blood-red hair, perfect curvy body and flame markings on each cheek, he'd actually notice her. But she could never achieve that image. Always marked a hanyou. At least he hadn't noticed that part of her yet. He probably just thought she was an abnormally ugly fire demoness.

Rin looked at her with eyes full of sympathy. Rubi had told her what Sesshomaru was doing, and Rin felt quite sorry for her having to watch him go up and talk to every pretty demoness in the village. They often threw themselves at him shamelessly, and Rubi would have found that quite amusing to watch him openly reject them, given any other situation. But this situation was not funny in the slightest, and Rubi felt miserable about pretty much everything.

There he was again, talking to an earth demoness. Her long brown hair almost reached her feet, with just hints of light green when the sun shone the right way. He looked interested in her talk, and wasn't moving away when she shifted closer to him. _This'll be the one,_ Rubi thought grimly. But just as she had that thought in her head, he walked back to her, Rin and Jaken, leaving the demoness with a disappointed expression evident on her face.

"Milord, how long are we spending in this village?" the toad demon asked.

"The day," he replied, and started walking again. The others had no choice but to follow.

They walked for about fifteen minutes, arriving at a high-end market. Demonesses galore. If anything, Rubi had to admit that the Demon Lord was very smart.

His attention was taken up by a stunning feline demoness. She had hair the colour of afternoon sun rays, and gorgeous blue eyes. Her fair appearance was set off by a pair of midnight-black cat ears and a slender tail. She was wearing a pale blue kimono with an obi decorated with cherry blossoms. It had obviously cost a fortune.

Rubi almost died of jealousy. From what she had heard of the conversation, the demoness's name was Monira, and she came from one of the most royal families, not counting the four Lords of Japan. The fire youkai didn't even know demonesses like this _existed._ But there was one right in front of her. Any sane male demon would have his breath taken away at the sight of her. Rubi didn't stand a chance.

"Oh my god, Rubi, she's… unnatural."

"Unnaturally _pretty_."

"She's no match for you."

"Oh really," Rubi raised one slender eyebrow. "C'mon, let's actually look at the merchandise at the market. Or do they sell goddess like demonesses now?"

Sesshomaru spent an hour talking to Monira. When they started heading back to the temporary house, Rubi tried to subtly find a way to ask if he had invited the gorgeous feline youkai.

"Sesshomaru-sama, I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you have anyone to attend the Ball with yet?"

He stayed silent for a minute. Rubi was afraid he was angry with her until he replied,

"No, I have not, Rubi."

Rin joined in. "What about that cat lady? You seemed to like her."

Sesshomaru looked at her funny for a second. "She was too full of herself. I might see her again, though."

"Oh," Rubi said, and kept walking, the sky darkening as the last bits of sunlight retreated from the sky.

Sesshomaru sat on a cushion, twirling a chopstick in between his slender fingers. Rin was finishing up her soup, and Rubi had gone to bed early. She seemed to not be in the best of moods for whatever reason. He vaguely wondered why. But there were much more pressing matters at hand. He needed a demoness for the Ball of Powers, and could not simply take any. And not going at all was out of the question as what he said to Rubi was true. There was only a week left.

"I need a suitable demoness," he whispered, pressing a nail into his palm and watching the small trickle of blood that leaked out.

"Sesshomaru-sama, if I can, may I suggest something?" Rin asked, getting up and walking over to him.

Sesshomaru glanced at her. She must have heard him.

"I suppose so."

"Well…" she looked down at her feet, momentarily losing her confidence. This was unusual. But the moment after, she straightened up and looked him straight in his amber eyes. "Rubi is a pretty demoness."

_Rubi. Rubi?_ He had never thought of her before. Was she fit to be seen on his arm? And if he did ask her, it would be a complete "acquaintance" affair.

"I will think about it," he murmured and pressed his nail in further.

Rin smiled. Rubi had a chance. She pictured the pair, walking down what Rin envisioned the golden hall to look like after all Rubi's descriptions. They were so beautiful. And Rin knew that would make Rubi's day, and possibly her life.

"That's what friends are for," she whispered.

They were traveling again, this time towards the huge central village that the Ball of Powers was hosted in. Five days to the dance, and they had an absolutely huge residence waiting. It was one in many that were located only a few buildings away from the ballroom itself. It was also the Lord of the Western Land's personal residence every time the Ball was hosted, and belonged to him.

Rin had had this peculiar smile on her face the whole day, so Rubi knew something was up. But Rubi really didn't think anything good could come of this whole Ball, and would be very glad when it was over.

Rin skipped along ahead, humming a little song she made up about Balls and fancy kimonos and dancing. She seemed in very high spirits and Rubi almost felt deserted. Rin was supposed to be supporting her in times of misery, not acting like everything was fine and dandy.

They stopped a few miles away from the village to eat. Rin bounced off somewhere and then bounced back, saying that there was this amazingly high tree that Jaken needed to see. They both disappeared, and Rubi and Sesshomaru where left alone in an awkward silence.

She picked at the sushi in the wooden tray in front of her. She didn't want to be alone with him, it was too uncomfortable.

"Rubi, I want to talk to you."

Talk to her? Oh no. Had he found out her half-demon secret, and was about to throw her out? Or kill her? Or even worse still, did he somehow know that she was madly in love with him? Rubi bit her lip, waiting.

"Because there is a favour I want to ask of you."

Rubi stopped eating her sushi. What could he want of her? "Yes?"

"I want to you to come to the Ball of Powers with me."

**-End**


	8. The Ball of Powers

Second of the Ball of Powers chapters!! Sorry for not updating sooner, I have been busy. Just a few notes before I begin:

(1) A HUUUUGE thanks to all the reviewers, and the people who have read this far! You take valuable time out of your day to read my little fanfic. I appreciate it so much!

(2) A review gave me an idea. I do currently have up to chapter 11 written, so I have basically planned out _exactly_ everything that will happen up until then, but please, if you want to see something happen in the story, review with your idea! I'm always open for little side-plots, and who knows, maybe it'll give me an idea for the next major plot! If I use your idea, you will be credited.

Now, on with the story!!!

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_Sesshomaru's blue silk sleeve touched her where their hands met. Rubi looked down at it. His kimono had been reminding her of something all night, and now she knew what it was. The white fading into blue pattern reminded her of ice. Fire and ice. How fitting. Rubi smiled to herself and looked up at the only one she would ever have eyes for. Her Lord Sesshomaru. _

**~ The Ball of Powers~**

Rubi sat on summer's lush green grass, looking at her reflection on the water. She wasn't beautiful. She was the first to admit that. But somehow, inconceivably, the great Lord Sesshomaru had chosen to take her to the Ball of Powers.

It had happened last week. Her secret love asked her, when Rin and Jaken had been off doing who-knows-what, to accompany him to the fabled demon Ball. She thought back, a smile lighting up her shimmering reflection.

"_I want you to come to the Ball of Powers with me."_

_Her mind was at a standstill. She must've heard wrong. He would never ask her, if he was in his right mind! Rubi thought. If he really had, then it was quite obvious what her answer was. She couldn't act too keen, though. And what if she had heard wrong? Rubi trusted her demonic hearing, but this was much too good to be true._

"_Rubi?"_

"_Oh, no, I mean, yes! I'd be honoured!" So much for the non-keenness._

"_I will have someone explain to you the customs of the Ball, then." _

_Rin came back then, smiling like an idiot. She seemed to know all too well what had happened, and Rubi at that moment was sure this was the little human's doing._

_Sesshomaru stood up, preparing to leave. Looking over his shoulder, he added, "It will be a good experience for you." A half-smile found its way onto his face. "And I'm quite sure you will enjoy it."_

A butterfly demoness, Mirza, then proceeded with Rubi's "lessons" for the Ball of Powers all throughout the following week. Mirza was a servant of Sesshomaru's, and becoming a very close friend of Rubi's. But she was leaving today, to go back to her village, and couldn't be there to dress her up on the big night, which Rubi would've loved. But Rin was there, and so excited to have a "doll" that Rubi was sure she'd explode.

"Rubi-chan! Where _are _you?"

The little girl was running down the hillside to the pond where Rubi was sitting. Rin came to a stop a few feet away, a stunning white cherry blossom in her hand.

"You need to get ready, it's only in a few hours!"

Rubi sighed, but was actually quite looking forward to it. "Yes, I know! Where'd you get that flower, Rin-chan?"

"Down at the orchards lining the Ball entrance."

"You know you're not supposed to go down there, let alone pick the flowers."

"Yes, but…" Rin looked up at the youkai, eyes shining with happiness. "You need to look beautiful for tonight, and a flower for your hair would look perfect! I chose white because it'll go with almost any kimono, and _someone_ hasn't shown me what they're wearing yet." Rin contradicted her stern expression by giggling.

"It's a surprise! Now come along, it's time for me to get dressed."

Rubi unwrapped a package that hadn't been opened for almost two years. She held up the blue kimono that her mother had given as a parting gift. Thinking of that also opened the floodgates to memories of her mother and Yuko as well, but Rubi pushed those away and concentrated. Yes, this was what she had been planning on wearing all week. Sesshomaru had offered to buy her a kimono, but Rubi had refused, having this in the back of her mind. _Rubi, this kimono is fit for a princess._ Hopefully it was fit to be worn to the Ball of Powers.

She slipped her red yukata off, and put on the hiyoku and the hadajuban which went underneath it. The silver hiyoku shone in the early setting sun, making Rub's body look like silver fire. The demoness then wrapped herself in the fancy kimono, and called Rin in to tie the black obi.

When the little girl came in, she immediately proceeded to grab the hem of the kimono and ran her hand along it.

"Rubi, where did this _come_ from? It's so pretty!"

"It was a parting gift from my mother."

"She sounds so nice! Is she a fire demon too? Oh, can I maybe meet her someday?"

Rubi thought, and an idea came to her. Maybe, after this Ball affair was finished, if Sesshomaru allowed her…

"Yes, Rin-chan, you may be able to meet her."

Rin nodded happily and danced behind Rubi, and started tying the bow in the way Rubi had taught her. Rin looked up; Rubi looked down, demoness and human's eyes met. They both thought of the other as a sister. Rubi couldn't even imagine how any demon would ever want to harm something like this.

The two proceeded to get Rubi ready. Rin twisted Rubi's short midnight-black red streaked hair into a small bun, and inserted two red chopsticks with ornate golden symbols. Rubi powered her face white and applied a red lip-stain that matched her hair streaks. Both violet and chocolate-brown eyes shone when they stood back and admired her appearance in a mirror.

"Sesshomaru will see he made the right choice!" Rubi sincerely hoped that was true. She was fairly certain that this was the best she'd ever looked, but would it be enough? Seeing the Demon Lord before the Ball would probably calm her nerves, but that was out of the question. One of the Ball customs was that partners were not to lay eyes on each other for the whole day before the event, and Sesshomaru had left at dawn, before Rubi was even awake.

The sun dial in the garden told her that it was only half an hour until the occasion began. Rubi should be going to meet him soon. The fire demoness took one last look at her staff, wishing she was allowed to bring it. Rin came over and hugged her.

"Have a good time, Rubi-chan, may the stars shine brighter tonight for you."

Rubi felt tears coming to her eyes. "Thank you Rin, for everything you've ever done for me. I love you. And I'm looking forward to tonight so much; I think I could fly right now, if I tried." Rubi slid her white clothed feet into her wooden geta and started walking down the stone path.

Jaken came to the door. "Be blessed that Lord Sesshomaru would even take you, you-" Rin stepped on his green foot. "Have fun," he muttered, and walked back into the house with Rin.

_It's really happening. I'm going to the Ball of Powers with Lord Sesshomaru.  
I feel like I really could fly!_ Rubi smiled and walked a little bit faster.

Sesshomaru stood among the other three Demon Lords of Japan, not really listening to the conversation they were having about some new fighting technique they were teaching their troops. His ears, nose and eyes were straining for any sign of the kansai youkai he knew so well, Rubi. She had to know better than to be late for the most prestigious ball in Japan. But she was alarmingly close to being just that.

A familiar scent made him spin around, his silk kimono sleeves swaying with his every movement. The Lord of the Western Lands was wearing clothes of the highest quality; a kimono with snow-white shoulders that faded into deep ocean blue. The obi was a shade darker blue than the kimono bottom; his hakama was the same shade of blue as the kimono, fading into a white pattern at its bottom's edge.

Sesshomaru's eyes widened as he laid eyes on his partner for the evening.

Her violet eyes shone, twinkling with the light of a thousand stars. The gold and silver cherry blossoms on the shoulders and bottom of her beautiful blue kimono glimmered in the light of the moon, which had just risen. Red threads were intricately woven through the silk fabric, giving the kimono the appearance of being on fire. She looked his way, and a perfect smile lit up her white face.

Rubi walked up to him, still smiling. "I'm here," she stated, and curtsied. He bowed, and she blushed. _She must not be used to me bowing to anyone, _Sesshomaru thought._ Though it is a custom of the Ball._

"Sesshomaru?"

He turned, to see the Lord of the East looking at him and Rubi. The fire demoness automatically blushed and curtsied low, realizing that she was in the presence of the four Demon Rulers of Japan.

"Yes?"

"Who is the demoness accompanying you?"

"Who is the demoness accompanying you?"

Rubi wasn't sure if she should answer or not. Would Sesshomaru introduce her, or was she supposed to do it herself? No, she was positive that she wasn't meant to reply.

"Rubi Tamasho, kansai youkai," Sesshomaru stated.

"A pleasure to meet you, my lady," the Lord of the Eastern Lands bent down and kissed her hand, shooting a good-natured smile at her from overtop it. Rubi smiled back, some formality gone.

A demoness with white-gold hair that reminded Rubi of the rays of the sun stepped up. She wore a golden kimono that matched her eyes.

"And this is Lady Taiyou, my mate." Taiyou first smiled at Sesshomaru, who dipped his head in acknowledgement, and then walked over to Rubi.

"Now that the formalities are over, why don't we let the demons do their talking while we do ours?" Lady Taiyou grinned. "Yes, I'm the Lady of the East, but I'm really quite new to royalty. What about you?"

Rubi was surprised to be greeted this warmly by a Lady, and felt herself becoming more comfortable. "I'm not his mate, but you can probably tell that. I just travel with Sesshomaru-sama, my lady."

"You can drop the titles if you want. I'm thinking you'll probably be one of us soon anyways." She winked. Rubi's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No, it's a complete acquaintance affair."

""Acquaintance affairs" are hardly what they mean most of the time. If it was, why did he pick you? Mark my words!" the demoness stated, playfully shaking a finger at Rubi.

The fire demoness learned from the conversation that followed that Lady Taiyou, who was a sun demoness, had only been the Lady of the East for about a year, and had just given birth to a baby demon. She had worked in a village as a seamstress making high-end silk kimonos when the Lord of the Eastern Lands was visiting one day, and took an interest in her. So the sun youkai was relatively new to being royalty, and soon Rubi and her were laughing like old friends.

"Rubi?" a voice beckoned, and she looked over to see Lord Sesshomaru by her side. "We are being called to prepare for entry."

"Oh! Well, goodbye then!" she waved to Taiyou, who departed in search of her mate.

This was it. In a few moments, Rubi would be walking down the golden hall, arm in arm with the Demon Lord. Her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wings, and she took a piece of her kimono hem and ran it through her fingers nervously.

"Are you ready?" Sesshomaru asked, and Rubi could have sworn she saw a hint of compassion in his amber eyes. She nodded. The demoness picked up the bottom of her kimono, which trailed on the floor, and followed him to a place just behind one of the last couples making their entry. The higher up in status you were, the more you had to wait. But that meant that almost everyone else was already in the ballroom, and more people would be there to see you.

The announcer, a short tree demon, cleared his throat.

"Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands, accompanied by Lady Rubi!"

_Lady _Rubi? When did that happen? She felt herself blushing as she walked forward into the light of a thousand cherry blossom lanterns. The hall was more splendid than she could ever have imagined. It was suspended like a bridge over water turned black by nighttime. Fireflies flew over the glass surface. It was outside, for the ballroom had a roof but no walls, and Rubi breathed in the warm summer air, gazing at all the couples watching her and smiled broadly back at them, though she was quite nervous inside. Sesshomaru's blue silk sleeve touched her where their hands met. Rubi looked down at it. His kimono had been reminding her of something all night, and now she knew what it was. The white fading into blue pattern reminded her of ice. Fire and ice. How fitting. Rubi smiled to herself and looked up at the only one she would ever have eyes for. Her Lord Sesshomaru.

"This is _so _boring!" Rin muttered as she walked around the building they occupied. The one that she had been told to stay in tonight. But she wanted nothing more then to escape and watch the youkais at the Ball.

"Master Jaken, what shall I do?" The toad demon was eating some rice noodles while seated on a cushion. She walked over. He listed off games they could play, but Rin had already used them to amuse herself many times before.

An idea hit the little girl right in the face. "I know Master Jaken; we could sneak into the Ball of Powers and watch Rubi and Sesshomaru-sama!"

"Insolent girl! You do not intrude on an event like this!"

Rin's devious smile made its appearance again, and Rubi would've known to run and hide. "We could also get some of that sake you like, but if you don't want to…"

"If we do, and if you promise to do _everything_ I say, Rin, we'll go." The toad youkai walked past the rice paper screen and out the door, into the fresh summer air. Rin hurried behind, singing a song she had made up a few days previous.

The two, after much scrambling and scraping of knees, managed to make it into the tiny attic above the Ballroom. The room had an unusually high ceiling and was one of the few buildings that actually had more than one floor - this attic was used to store the thousands of paper lanterns. Rin and Jaken looked down through a crack in the dusty floor, down to the many couples far below twirling round and round. The height made Rin slightly dizzy, but she was adjusting quickly and the complexity of the dancing and the music enthralled her. How everybody was dressed up, the beautiful kimonos that were worn, how the ladies' hair was done to perfection. Rin looked closer to find the reason that they had come there.

_There they were!_ Not dancing, but talking with another demon and demoness. Rubi was laughing, her kimono resembling fire in the light of the lanterns. Sesshomaru was wearing a kimono that looked slightly funny on him for a moment, because Rin had never seen him wear anything but his red and white one. But when she had gotten used to it, it was outstandingly beautiful as well.

The music changed, signaling the start of another song, and the couple in their company left to dance. Sesshomaru looked as though he was talking to the fire demoness for a moment, and soon they walked onto the golden dance floor too.

_Round, and round, and round they go…_ achieving grace that even the most accomplished human dancer could only ever dream of. Rin's weak human eyesight couldn't see the way Rubi's violet eyes sparkled, and the cherry blossom pink flush that had settled itself upon her cheeks, but the little girl could more than imagine it. The Demon Lord, movements always filled with inhuman beauty in battle and everyday life, was an even more stunning dancer. It looked as though he had practiced day after day, the way his actions flowed into Rubi's, like a river making it's way into an ocean full of music.

And so Rin continued to watch while Jaken left her alone for a few moments to root around in the attic's contents, returning with a dusty bottle of the highest quality sake that was being served at the Ball that evening. Rubi and Sesshomaru danced, breaking for food and then dancing some more, and Rin couldn't take her eyes off them. It seemed like the flow of their movements symbolized the perfect way they were meant to be together. She vowed to stop at nothing to make them fall in love. To make Sesshomaru realize his feelings for Rubi, to make the fire demoness be bolder about her affection for the dog youkai. It would be oh so simple if, when someone fell in love, they expressed their feelings immediately, and not ever beat around the bush for nearly the year and a half that these two had. Adults could be _so_ silly at times.

"Rin! _Rin-chan!_"

"Yes, Master Jaken?"

"The Ball ends soon, and you need to be in bed at that time! Let's get going!"

Rin wanted to stay, but didn't want to get caught. "Okay, then."

They scrambled down the roof again. Rin tore her kimono a few times, and tried hard to make up a believable excuse for the moment when she would have to later explain the state of it. All she could come up was that she had fallen into a bramble bush while playing tag. They snuck around in the bushes outside the main entrance, and were just about to make a mad dash for the courtyard on which the house they were occupying was located when a clear feminine voice that was alarmingly familiar drifted over to Rin's ears.

"I can't _believe _it, Sesshomaru took a lowly servant to the Ball, instead of _me, _whose power knows no female rival? I was so sure of my place on his arm, but no! Who does that little wench think she is, anyways?" There were mutters as a group of demonesses replied in monotones to the voice. Rin crept towards them, blood boiling. _They're talking about Rubi! _

On a seven-year-old's impulse, Rin stepped out of the bushes with the toad youkai just behind. "Why are you insulting Rubi? Who do _you _think _you_ are?"

An amazingly perfect face turned around lightning-fast to look down at her, and a pouty look of disapproval settled itself upon it. Just as Rin had thought, it was Monira, the cat demoness.

"Don't tell me she brought a human along? I wouldn't even think a _servant _would stoop that low, or be that ignorant." The demonesses around her tittered, and Rin wanted to punch every one of their angelic faces.

"What did she ever do to you?"

Monira put a fake-thoughtful look upon her face. "Hmmm… steal what is rightfully mine, _exist_."

The little girl, always so sweet and innocent, hated the female in front of her with every cell in her body. "Don't talk about Lord Sesshomaru like that! He's a person, not a prize! And Rubi-chan wants him because he's _him, _not for his status and money!"

"You have _so_ much to learn. In the game of love, the demoness who comes out with the most demons wins. And their high status just adds to the prize. And on top of that, our Lord Sesshomaru is quite… _good looking_.

Why am I explaining myself to a human? Run along, and stay out of my way, and consider yourself lucky this time that I don't have the time to teach you a lesson that you sorely deserve," and she turned on her heel and walked out of the bushes and onto the cobblestone path again.

Rin stood there, a soft summer breeze causing her silky black hair to swirl around her face and shoulders. Her fists clenched. _I hate her, I hate her, I hate her so much…_

"Rin, you shouldn't have done that." The toad demon came up beside her.

"I know, Master Jaken. But she's bad news."

"Come, we have to get back to the house before the Ball ends," and they ran to the safety of the wooden structure once again.

**-End**


	9. Now an Orphan

Aww, now this is a sad chapter. You've been warned! And a few notes: if you have nothing good to say, don't say it at all. I love good comments, ideas and constructive criticisim, but anything else is really not helpful and not appreaciated. Thanks!

Let us begin!

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**I never knew I could hurt like this  
And everyday life goes on like  
"I wish I could talk to you for awhile"  
"I wish I could find a way try not to cry"  
As time goes by  
And soon as you reach a better place  
Still I'll give the whole world to see your face  
And I'm right here next to you  
It feels like you gone too soon  
The hardest thing to do is say bye bye -Mariah Carey, "Bye Bye"**

**~ Now an Orphan ~**

"_Rubi, you must save the child."_

_She was in a burning room, and though not affected in the slightest, Lord Sesshomaru was on his knees, face deathly white and coughing. He handed her a bundle of silk blankets, though Rubi could hear the heartbeat inside. _

"_No, Sesshomaru, you'll be able to live, just hang on-"_

"_Rubi, go!" And he fell backwards, fire licking at his kimono, and for some reason, Rubi couldn't stop it, control it. He was dying, and she was just standing there, because there was nothing she could do. She had never felt so helpless in her life._

_Rubi ran out, tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn't completely powerless, because she was able to cast a barrier around the baby she was holding. The fire youkai was curious through her grief, and unwrapped the blankets, because she had absolutely no clue who the child was. It was a girl, and smelled more than half-demon, though not quite full demon. _

_A beautiful face stared back at her, eyes full of childhood innocence. That was when Rubi broke down into tears, setting the bundle down on the ground before covering her face. For the child's red eyes marked it as a fire demoness, but the moon on its forehead stated clearly who its father was. Sesshomaru's daughter. Her daughter._

Rubi woke up and sat bolt upright, sweating. She had been having dreams with many familiar people dying for more than a couple of nights now, but never had they been this vivid. She could have sworn that she had felt the silk blanket's touch on her tear-stained skin. And never had the subject been Sesshomaru. Rubi recalled their daughter's face in her mind. So perfect… but without a father for life.

"Rubi-chan? Are you alright?"

"Yes Rin, just a dream." The sun was just rising above the mountains in the distance, and the little girl must have gotten up early to bead the bracelet she was working on or something. Rubi was glad that Sesshomaru was gone until later in the morning, and not here to see her like this.

"Well, we have to get going! Come on, get up!" and Rin pounced on the demoness playfully. Rubi batted her away with a simple swat of her arm. Rin was so excited. The fire youkai had promised to take the little girl into her village, to meet her mother since they were in the area. She wasn't quite sure if it was the best choice, taking a human into a town overflowing with demons. Her mother wasn't the problem, since she had mated with a human, and held no hate for them. But everyone else was. Demons could smell human scent from miles away…

But she had promised. And Rubi always kept her promises to the best of her abilities, no matter what. "Yes, okay Rin-chan, I'm up, I'm up!" She raised her hands in mock surrender to ward off oncoming attacks.

Bathing in the river, selecting a plain red yukata instead of her well-worn travel outfit and preparing a soup for breakfast was all part of her morning routine that day. She then sat by a lake so clear it was like the highest quality glass mirror. Slipping a few bottles out of her shoulder-bag, she leaned over the water's surface and started applying lip-stain and a bit of white face powder. Rubi was about to visit her village and what was left of her family for the first time in two and a half years. It only felt like days ago when she first set off with the Demon Lord, first met Rin… but time was deceiving. Rubi had celebrated her twentieth birthday a few months ago, but still didn't look a day over eighteen. She wouldn't age physically for hundreds of years.

Sesshomaru arrived from his errand an hour later, and instructed them to get packed and moving. Snapshots from her nightmare repeatedly flashed through Rubi's mind, and Rin looked at her sympathetically a couple of times, guessing that it had been a pretty bad dream.

"There it is, down there! You can see the smoke rising from the fires."

Rubi pointed out a village in the valley they were standing on the outside of, smoke coming up in huge billows. _That looks like a bit too much smoke… but maybe they're burning something huge._

"Lord Sesshomaru! Now can I-"

"Rin," Sesshomaru cut her off, looking serious. "This will be dangerous. Rubi will be going first into the village, and bringing her mother to us if possible."

_Very good idea, _Rubi thought,_ it'll also give me a chance to pop in and see how Yuko's doing! She should have a little baby demon right now…_ her heart burst with excitement at the thought of her best friend having a child. Maybe that's what she should be thinking about too… but the only person's child the kansai youkai wanted to bear was completely unattainable. Even when she walked by good-looking demons in cities they visited, each and every one held no interest for Rubi, now that she had met the Lord of the Western Lands in person. She had often thought being the chosen one had been a blessing, but looking at it now, she realized it was also a curse. Rubi would never be satisfied now.

"Okay, I'll probably not be back until past-noon! See you, Rin-chan! Bye!" and Rubi ran down the hill, pushing her demonic speed to it's fullest. She wanted to get away from her obsession for a little while, and laugh with her mother and Yuko for a few hours. A taste of her past life, if only for a few enjoyable hours. Rubi loved her life as it was at the moment, but to see what it would've been like was just too tempting.

Running to the village, just like when she was little. Playing with Yuko and other demonesses in the flowers, mind filled with worries like friendships and flower types, not surviving, mating; bearing children… she'd love to have a second childhood. Rin was so lucky.

The huge wooden gates, decorated with beautiful carvings depicting battle after battle, triumphs of the Western Lands won in past battles. But a huge dent was gouged out of one side, and there was no repair party in sight. _What…?_ There should be demons out repairing it by now. They must be very busy, to have ignored something like this.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that met her when she took her first steps into her village. The world spun around her, doing back flips, somersaults… Rubi fell to her knees, putting her hands on the ground for much-needed support. _This wasn't happening, was it?_

Dead bodies everywhere. They were so familiar. The streets swam with crimson blood. A few yards up the stone road, a life-drained face stood out like a beacon amongst countless others. _That was my battle master… and his child…_

The tears flowed freely now, spilling over Rubi's dark lashes and splashing onto the ground, diluting the puddles of blood around her and making her carefully applied make-up run. She tried to sense another demonic presence around her. _Someone… anyone?_

She felt Sesshomaru's huge one, and then another one, but far away. A traveler. Every single one of them was dead. Yuko. Her mother. _No… it just can't be…_

"Aaah!" she cried and flung herself onto the ground, not caring that her new silk yukata was getting thoroughly drenched in blood. Rubi would not go to her house. She didn't want to see her mother's dead body, like so many others. The horrid scent of death filled her nostrils, shutting out every other decent smell of nature that had ever existed.

The fire demoness cried. It felt like both forever and a second when a soft, firm hand with magenta stripes lifted her face off the ground gently. His sweet scent drove off the nightmare. She looked up through eyes red-ringed and puffy, the tears not stopping. Rubi took one look at Lord Sesshomaru, and threw herself into his unprepared arms, not even feeling the sharp jab of one of his armour spikes as it pierced her chest. Drowning in her own tears, Rubi fell unconscious at last, free from her grief for a short blessed time.

She was lying in his arms. His kimono, mokamoka and hakama were slowly turning red, the blood on her yukata gradually soaking him. His heart, which had been stone cold and unmoving, felt a sharp pain for the first time in centuries. _She was broken, and would need to be healed. Would he ever be able to accomplish this feat? _Sesshomaru stood up. He would wash his kimono later. She needed to be brought back to a camp, to be cleaned up, to rest.

He was back at the clearing in a matter of seconds, where Rin was playing some stone game with Jaken. She looked up at him, and gasped.

"Sesshomaru-sama, Rubi! You're both covered in blood! Are you alright?"

"Shh!" he put a finger to his lips, and lay Rubi on the ground. He wanted her to stay in her sanctuary of sleep for as long as she could.

"It is not our blood. Stay quiet, Rin, she needs to rest." Rin nodded in response.

When had he become this caring? The more you were attached to things in life, the more you were vulnerable, the more people could control you. He felt nothing romantic for Rubi, but he was connected to her, and needed to feel her beside him. He thought, and found that he couldn't imagine life without her.

Sesshomaru sat down against a tree, shutting his eyes on the world around him. When he did slip into sleep, pictures of a lifeless Rubi and Rin flashed through his mind, and he did not sleep well.

Rubi awoke to sunshine and birds' songs, cruelly taunting the despair inside of her. The tears threatened to escape from their hiding place in her eyes and heart, but she refused to break down in front of everybody like she had before. It would scare Rin.

She struggled to a standing position, and when she finally achieved it, sharp pain tore her chest in half. Rubi looked down and observed a gash just above her right breast.

_Did I really throw myself on Lord Sesshomaru, just like that? _A grain of embarrassment settled itself in her head, but her grief overwhelmed it.

"Rubi, you should rest."

She shook her head, not realizing she was contradicting a direct order from the Lord of the Western Lands. "I need to be alone." He nodded, not arguing sheerly from the look on her face.

Rubi ran through the underbrush, wanting to be as far away as possible from them when the tears hit. _How did this happen… why my village…?_

A sound that mirrored her own feelings was heard. Sobbing pounded in her eardrums, so hard that Rubi ached to comfort the person, even though she had no clue who she was hearing. But the cries sounded so familiar-

_No. Could it really be?_

She burst through the bushes into a clearing. A demoness about her age, with long wavey black hair and blue highlights, was kneeling in the dirt, and she was definitely exuding the sobs. But Rubi knew that head, that hair, that _voice _so well. Did she even dare to hope…?

The demoness turned around fast, knowing someone else was with her. In that split second, regconition both hit them like a smack in the face-

"_Yuko!"_

**- End**


	10. Yuko's Descision

I'm back! Sorry I haven't updated for a while, I've been so winter holidays! But some good news: I have the complete book one finished. It's 15 chapters and about 110 pages, so I'll update as i see fit! Yeah, this chapter doesn't really have any romantic action, but the next few might!!! As always, please R&R!!!

Disclaimer (cause I've forgotten to do them so often!! .): Everything except Rubi, Yuko, Monira and the plot (c) to Rumiko Takahashi.

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_Rubi nodded. "Yuko, you've gone through a terrible ordeal, and the last thing I'd want is for you to not be happy because of me. Remember what you told me, two and a bit years ago? Now I'm saying it to you. I'd hate for you to leave me, but I'd hate seeing you unhappy even more."_

**~ Yuko's Decision ~**

There was her best friend, staring back at her with an equally shocked face. _I thought everyone was dead! _Rubi thought, grief taken over by sheer confusion. The tears on her face dried in the light summer breeze.

"Oh my… oh my god… Rubi!" and the water demoness flung herself into her best friend's arms, still sobbing. Rubi held her and sank to the ground, tears returning to her eyes. But they were bittersweet this time around. She knew that what Yuko had gone through must have been incredibly tragic, but she tried to focus on the fact that her best friend was still alive, and had not joined her community in silence. Yuko didn't have to tell her the full story yet, if it would break her. Rubi knew that she would open up when she was ready, and was fully willing to give her that freedom.

"Why don't you accompany me back to the camp? We'll take care of you."

Yuko looked up through the tears. "Who's "we," Rubi-chan?"

Rubi gave her a watery smile. "I'm travelling with Lord Sesshomaru, remember?"

"Oh! No, he can't see me like this-"

"Hm, I know him pretty well, and I don't think he cares," _Or at least I hope not, _Rubi thought, remembering her meltdown yesterday.

"Okay, then," and both demonesses got to their feet unsteadily.

They ran through the forest fast, Rubi struggling to keep up with her full demon friend. It just felt so good to be with her again. She could hear a few sobs up ahead and just wished that they had come together under happier circumstances. If only Rubi's group had come days sooner. She knew that whatever happened to them, the Demon Lord could have easily saved her village.

When they finally arrived at the camp, Sesshomaru, who had been making marks in the dirt that looked like some kind of battle plan, looked up. Surprise, then recognition flashed through his beautiful golden eyes as he remembered the young water demoness that had accompanied Rubi at the night of the choosing. He remembered that as the night Rubi and him first met, and it had always held some significance in long-frozen, but now slightly thawing, land that was his heart.

"This is Yuko, I'm not sure if you remember her, my lord, but I found her in the forest surrounding here. I guess there was one survivor," it pained Rubi much to say that.

"I am honoured, my lord," Yuko said, bowing her head and dropping down on both knees in front of him.

"Rise," he commanded, also getting to his feet. The great dog demon walked over to Yuko. "You do know what happened to the village. Am I correct?"

The demoness nodded, uncomfortable that the Lord of the Western Lands was standing a few feet in front of her.

Rubi knew what he was going to ask her to do next, and wanted to stop him with all her might. She thought of a way to do this.

"Sesshomaru-sama, she should rest in a place where she would have protection, right? So could we possibly allow Yuko to stay with us?"

"I will consider it. I am giving the task to you, Rubi, to see that her needs are met," and he walked off into the forest.

Right then, Rin came hurdling out of it. She approached Rubi cautiously, partly because of what the fire demoness had gone through yesterday, and partly because of the new youkai standing beside her.

"Rubi-chan, who is that?"

"Oh, this is Yuko, Rin." She turned to Yuko. "Yuko, this is Rin, the human girl who has been travelling with us for a couple years."

Rin curtsied and greeted her. Yuko looked surprised for a minute, since she had never met a human in her life, but soon dipped her head in response.

The three of them sat down. Rubi knew that Sesshomaru would ask Yuko what had happened to the village when he returned, and wanted to prepare her.

Rubi explained what the Demon Lord's intentions were. Yuko looked troubled for a moment. "I think, when the time comes, I will be ready."

They noticed Rin was standing over them.

"Excuse me, Yuko-sama, but if I may ask, what is your power?"

"I'm a water demon."

"Oh, well… may I please see?"

Rubi interjected "No Rin, I don't think Yuko is-" when her best friend cut her off.

"Sure, Rin-chan, I'd love to show you."

Yuko jumped to her feet in one swift movement. Rubi sighed, envying her demonic power. The water youkai raised her hand above a puddle on the ground, and the water came soaring up until it was level with her outstretched hand. She twisted her hand this way and that, the water always following her actions perfectly.

Rin watched in awe as she made the shape of a first a flower, then a rainbow and even the shape of the little girl herself. Of course Rin had to make it into a game.

"Ok, so Yuko'll make shapes, and me and Rubi will guess what they are!"

Yuko twisted her hand so that a shape with a shaft and a triangular point on the end materialized.

"Oh, I know! That's an arrow!"

"More importantly, it's one of my water arrows I carry with me," Yuko corrected, grinning and pointing to the ones strapped to her back. This was the first time the water demoness had felt happy since the massacre, and all because of a human girl. A few weeks ago, Yuko wouldn't have thought that was possible.

"And Rubi-chan, what about this one?" Rin looked over at Rubi with a knowing smile, the latter having been lost in her own thoughts. She turned her head and when she caught sight of the shape, she rolled her violet eyes. Yuko looked at the two of them, confused.

Sighing, Rubi said, "It's Lord Sesshomaru." For the shape was human-like, had a mokomoko on it's right shoulder and long watery see-through hair.

The demonic presence felt by the two demonesses signaled Sesshomaru's return. Yuko waved her hand and the water came crashing down into the puddle again.

He shot a questioning look at Rin, who's eyes widened. She then looked ashamed and started shuffling her feet in the dirt.

"I'm sorry Sesshomaru-sama, I haven't done it yet."

Rubi looked up questioningly and Rin explained. "I was supposted to wash Ah-Un in the river. I guess I'll do it now!" She woke the two-headed beast, took it's reins in her hand and started skipping off to the river.

"Hey wait, Rin-chan!" Rubi called. Rin stopped and looked back at her. "Me and Yuko can come and help you!"

"Sure thing!" Yuko said, smiling. "It'll be pretty easy for me."

The trio hurried off into the bushes, Ah-Uh following right behind them.

Rubi flopped on to the hard dirt, utterly exhausted. The water fight had taken all of her remaining energy. She still couldn't really believe that her whole village minus Yuko had fallen, but tried not to think of it. She would have to face her grief soon, but her best friend was here and it was a time to celebrate. Or get completely drenched in water.

Rin had accidentally spilled a bucket of water on Yuko, and that had quickly transpired into a full-out battle. The water youkai had an unfair advantage on everyone else, but they didn't mind that much. Rin still hadn't stopped giggling.

"Yuko."

Everybody turned to look at Sesshomaru, who had come into the clearing silently once again. He walked over calmly and sat on the ground in front of the demonesses.

"I have made my decision. You may stay and travel with us, on the understanding that at this moment, you will tell me what befell the citizens of your village."

Yuko smiled, but Rubi could sense an uncomfortable air around her. _Will she be willing to tell him, even though she assured me earlier that she would be fine?_

The smile vanished off her best friend's face. "It happened a few weeks ago. A neighbouring demonic village sought to steal our grains, since we had plenty from our earth demons and they had a shortage. We might have traded if they had approached us peacefully, but they attacked us instead. None survived." Her face was stone. Rubi could tell this took a tremendous amount of effort. _Is it just me, or does it feel as though Yuko is leading up to something even more terrible?_

"I was out collecting herbs at the time. I saw the battle, and thought it was a mere skirmish, so I- I" Yuko looked down, tears welling up in her bright blue eyes. It was clear she was utterly ashamed of what she was going to say next. "I sat in the bushes and waited 'till it was over," she whispered so quietly it blended into the soft breeze dancing throughout the clearing they sat in.

Rubi put an arm around Yuko. Sesshomaru's face remained, as always, devoid of any emotion. _Why is he always like that? His smile would be breathtakingly beautiful…_

"So, Yuko, you now have a decision to make. You are free to travel under my protection, or I will see that you make your way to the nearest village. You have until noon tomorrow," Sesshomaru stated, and resumed sketching a plan into the dirt with one clawed fingernail.

"So, you'll need time to decide, huh?" Rubi teased, poking the water demoness. Yuko nodded, still looking uncomfortable.

"I'm going for a walk, Rubi-chan. I won't be long, though," she gave Rubi a half-smile and a little wave, and disappeared.

_Yuko definitely won't refuse. I think I may have a new travelling companion! _Rubi smiled to herself and settled down against a tree, closing her eyes to the darkening sky

.

When the fire demoness awoke, it was morning. She went in search of Yuko, and by tracking her scent Rubi found her sitting by a waterfall near the camp, deep in thought.

Rubi sat down next to her. "Hey, are you going to come with us?" she said in a teasing manner. Yuko looked at her and closed her eyes sadly.

"That's exactly what I'm not sure about."

"Huh?" Rubi thought Sesshomaru's choice would be an easy one to make.

"Oh, well… this is hard to explain. I want to stay with you, but… I really, _really _hate travelling. Remember, when you were getting all excited about being chosen to travel with Sesshomaru-sama and I didn't want to? That's why. Moving from place to place just makes me depressed, not having a home, and depression might not be a good thing at the moment. So… but will you be okay with it, Rubi-chan?"

The fire youkai was taken aback. But it only took her a second to think it over, decide what was best for her friend, and encourage her to do just that.

"You mean, you'd be fine? We could still see each other!"

Rubi nodded. "Yuko, you've gone through a terrible ordeal, and the last thing I'd want is for you to not be happy because of me. Remember what you told me, two and a bit years ago? Now I'm saying it to you. I'd hate for you to leave me, but I'd hate seeing you unhappy even more."

"Really? Well, then, I guess I've made my decision… oh no, I hate leaving you, but…"

Rubi stood up and pulled Yuko up with her. "Come, let's tell Lord Sesshomaru of your choice."

Just then, Yuko remembered something. "And Rubi, when I made that water shape of Lord Sesshomaru, Rin looked at you funny. Why?"

This was when Rubi starting getting uncomfortable. "Uh, well… that's a story for another day! We have to be getting back!"

Yuko smiled mischievously. "Ah, and the sparks fly! I won't ask you to elaborate, but I think I've already guessed!"

"Urgh! Stop talking complete _nonsense,_ and get a move on!" She pushed her best friend forward, in the direction of the clearing.

Yuko had left. Rubi sat on the remains of what looked like a human castle, though the tricks of time had made them crumble into boulder-sized pieces. _I did the right thing, I know I did._ She watched Rin play around in the long grass swaying in the early autumn breeze. The little girl missed Yuko already, as did the fire demoness. Rubi, wanting to put an end to her thoughts, ran up to Rin and was just about to join her for a game when Lord Sesshomaru, who had been sitting on a similar piece of stone a few meters away, came over to them.

"We are leaving, this time with a purpose. I seek the violet moonflower, as an herb of immense power and rarity. Do not dawdle," and he started walking at a brisker pace than normal.

"Come on Rin-chan, let's go!" Rubi called, and Rin climbed on her back. They leapt into the air to catch up, leaving Jaken running along behind yelling,

"Wait for me, milord!"

_Perfect, a purpose to take my mind off other things…_

**-End**


	11. Flowers and Feuds

I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I'd upload 2! Here you go, late Christmas prezzie. Please review, if you have the time!

Oh yes, and a note: Daichia is not my character. She belongs to my friend Kira! She doesn't have an account here, but visit her and read Daichia's story at her deviantart profile, which is: (put all the actual puctuation where the brackets are) www(dot)daichia-inuyasha(dot)deviantart(dot)com.

Disclaimer: Everthing except Rubi, Yuko, Monira, Daichia and the plot (c) to Rumiko Takahashi.

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_Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he reunited one finger with her hair and ran the smooth surface along it, leaving a trail of black. Rubi's heart raced as he made a guess, and sniffed the air to confirm it._

"_You're human." _

**~Flowers and Feuds~**

Rubi sat on a cliff, overlooking thousands of miles of rivers, forests and plains. She kicked a rock and watched it soar out, flying for just a few golden moments, then falling, crashing into in the ground in some unknown region, never to be found again.

The kansai youkai could feel it in her veins. It was the dead of night, and the time when she would turn completely human for a day was drawing nearer by the second. _I'm all prepared. I've got the berries and some cherry blossom perfume to hopefully cover the scent well enough… possibly well enough to give Lord Sesshomaru a headache, with his impossibly acute demon senses. _

She stood and walked back to camp, wanting to get some well-earned rest since they had been travelling quickly since dawn. To locate a certain vine with rare flowers, that only bloomed for a week around this time of year.

Rubi jumped through the trees, only landing her foot on a branch for a second, then springing up again. She leapt down into their camp and found Rin sleeping like a log, Jaken trying and failing miserably to get the fire to stay burning and Sesshomaru gone, like almost every other day at some point or another. _Why couldn't he just stay here with us? Are we really that bad of company? _Rubi had been struggling with her feelings for the Lord of the Western Lands ever since she started travelling. Rin often urged her to make a move and tell him how she felt, but Rubi, in all honesty, was quite scared to do just that. Waiting wouldn't get her anywhere, but there was really nothing else she could do.

"Urgh, you stupid fire- ack, burning, burning!" Jaken had somehow managed to catch his kimono on fire, and was running around the camp screaming about it.

"Quiet, you overgrown tadpole, or I'll set the rest of you on fire as well! Rin's sleeping," and Rubi brandished her staff threateningly.

"Hmmph!" he huffed, and finally extinguished the fire. Rubi walked over and waved one hand over the dying fire in the pit, and it rose up again to a cheerful blaze.

Jaken fell asleep not too long after that, and Rubi started applying the berry dye to her hair. She wasn't human yet, but if she fell asleep and Sesshomaru came back before morning, she'd be dead doggy food. The red berry juice ran over her fingers as Rubi dug one sharp nail into each berry and then smoothed the liquid onto her midnight black hair where she was pretty certain her streaks were normally. The youkai then lay down a few yards away from the sleeping imp and human and closed her eyes, letting the soft velvet blanket of sleep fall upon her mind.

"Rubi! Rubi-chan, I'm hungry!"

"Uh?"

The sun blinded her for a mere second, and then she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Rin was poking her back, and wanting food from the sound of it. Rubi got to her feet, which were a little unsteady from her present human state, and looked down at Rin.

"So you want food, eh? Since when did you start poking me like that?"

"Well, I was really hungry and Master Jaken said to wake you up 'cause he didn't know where to find some…"

Rubi's eyes shot flames at the toad demon, who visibly winced. "Okay, that's fine. You actually should come with me, so next time you'll be able to do it completely by yourself. Come on!" She took Rin's small hand and led her through the forest, walking at a fast pace. If she ran, she would be noticeably slower than usual. Even Rin could not know this secret.

The two found some edible mushrooms and leaves by a crystal clear running stream, and carried everything back to camp. Rubi immediately noticed that Sesshomaru was back. He walked over to her, placing one magenta-striped hand on her hair.

_What is he doing? He has never touched me like this. His hand is so soft…_ Rubi slipped into a dream world, only to be brought back out by his voice.

"There are twigs and leaves in your hair," he said as he brushed them away. She smiled shyly. But the warm, beautiful feeling in her stomach disappeared quite suddenly and was replaced by bottomless dread when, as he took his hand away, red dye came off with it.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he reunited one finger with her hair and ran the smooth surface along it, leaving a trail of black. Rubi's heart raced as he made a guess, and sniffed the air to confirm it.

"You're human." He said it as a statement, not a question. Rubi looked down to the ground. As much as her mind worked overtime, she just couldn't think of a justifiable excuse. Rin looked on in astonishment. _Rubi wasn't a human, I've seen her use her powers…_

The Demon Lord's eyes clouded over, no longer looking like warm honey. Rubi could now associate the two orbs with a cold, glittering golden metal. That was all in his expression that changed, but Rubi could tell he was getting angrier and angrier as the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place.

"More importantly, you're a hanyou."

She bit her lip and her gaze made contact with the ground once more. Rubi couldn't bear to look at him. There was no point in contradicting it. And it hurt Rubi more than any physical wound to know that her one and only love now hated her for deceiving him. _This wouldn't be happening if I was a full demon, like him. Why must I always be cursed with my heritage?_

"Yes," she admitted, still not making eye contact, "I am. I am so sorry, milord, for doing this-"

"Did you honestly assume that an apology would fix anything?" he hissed in a deadly quiet voice, eyes growing even colder. "I did not think you were that naïve, Rubi."

"Sesshomaru-sama, I- I do not know what to say," Rubi murmured. _He will never even think about loving me now, now that I have deceived him like this. He will most likely kill me. I will never get to see Yuko again… _"I g-guess you are going to kill me?" _I should prepare myself._

"I should," he stated icily, and Rubi then heard the sound of soft footsteps walking briskly into the trees. She looked up and he had indeed disappeared.

_What just happened?_ Rin and Jaken were staring at her with their mouths open. For once, no impudent comments or silly giggles.

A realization flashed through Rubi's head, and she broke the silence, moving to pick up her already packed shoulder bag. She slung it over her black-clad shoulder, and started walking out of the clearing with a heart heavier than lead.

"Rubi-chan, where are you going?" Rin cried out and took a step forward.

"Rin, I have to leave. I do not think he will kill me, and for that I am extremely lucky, but it is obvious that he will not tolerate my presence anymore. Goodbye, I love you," and Rubi turned her back and walked away from her close friend, annoying companion and beautiful love.

Sesshomaru ran through the forest, branches whipping at his face but leaving no visible damage. He was fully aware that his blood should be boiling at the very thought of the _half-demoness _who had deceived him, that he should be, at this very moment, plotting the best way to take her life and stain his claws with her disgraceful dirty blood – but all the Demon Lord felt in his cold, unmoving heart was a strange ocean of calm. It was not feeling anything at all that scared him like nothing else could. Why was he so passive? He should hate her, despise her, but of course not show it on his face outright. But it was hard for him to feel anything nasty towards the fire demoness. Why? She was normal, but at the same time like no other. He had to admit that no other being had made him feel like this, have this barrier against his anger that flooded into even his own mind.

Sesshomaru kept running, not sure when he would return to the camp. He vaguely wondered what she would do now. _She will hopefully leave, to spare me the effort of puzzling over her._ The icy Lord of the Western Lands couldn't believe what she was doing to him – and he didn't like it one bit.

The dog demon sat by a still lake of many colours and thought, still completely confused about Rubi Tamasho.

At the same time, the fire demoness in question was sitting on a tall branch in the highest tree she could find, looking up at the sun, shining in the sky like it was proud to be what it was. For that she envied the huge yellow orb. Silent tears slid down her cheeks. She was cold, a bit hungry and most importantly completely on her own. She belonged no where, not with the humans, and, as today's events had shown, especially not with the demons. All she wanted was to have Lord Sesshomaru trust her, help her, _love her-_ but anything that would have been a miracle to start with was washed away by the black, muddy river of her hanyou heritage. She could never really hate her mother, with what happened to her in the summer- but she still hated her mother's decision to mate with a human. The tears ran a bit faster.

"No!" Rubi said firmly, jumping down from the tree and landing gracefully on the ground, "I can't cry. The demons around here will sense my weakness and kill me. If I'm going to live on my own, I might as well start practicing tactics."

Rubi started running. She had decided that she wanted to get as far away from Sesshomaru as possible. Feeling the wind on her face, the ground flying by beneath her feet. Wasn't that supposed to be a good cure for sadness?

It was the slight smell of smoke that first alerted Rubi to the presence of the bramble hut. She then ran into the clearing and saw it, perched between two massive trees that didn't even look real, they were so tall. There was obviously someone in there, for Rubi could hear the walking, chopping and humming sounds they were making. She wanted some company, so she walked over to the door and knocked.

All sounds stopped. Everything was silent for many minutes. Rubi stepped closer, straining her ears. _No, nothing!_ They couldn't have just disappeared.

The fire youkai pushed the bamboo screen door aside and took a few steps in.

Immediately something jumped on her back, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Face squashed against the floor, Rubi picked up the slight scraping of a sword being pulled from a sheath, and took that moment to flip around as fast as lightning and parry the blow with her staff, made with special wood that would not break under a sword slash.

Metal sword and wooden staff met with a clang, and Rubi paused for a split second to get a glance at her attacker.

She was a pretty demoness, with long, flowing chestnut brown hair that was adorned with forest green colour streaks. She wore a simple green kimono that complimented her body. From that much, Rubi correctly guessed she was an earth demoness.

"Why are you invading my home?" she asked, sword still braced for oncoming attacks.

"I knew you were in there! You could've just gotten the door, you know," Rubi pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Well, well, we have a smart one here!" the mysterious earth youkai stated, giggling.

Rubi decided she didn't seem all that menacing, so she asked, "What's your name?"

"What's yours?" came the reply.

"I asked you first!"

"Well, I guess you're going to have to fight me for it!"

They circled each other, bringing weapons clashing together a few times. The earth demoness wasn't using any attacks, so Rubi refrained from setting her fire powers on her. _Strange, she doesn't seem to be stronger than me at all…_

Some minutes later, Rubi's opponent fell on the ground, smiling.

"I give up; I'm too tired to do this anymore. You're a good opponent. My name's Daichia- meaning earth."

"Rubi. Fire demoness, if you don't already know. You seem to be quite happy, may I ask why?"

Daichia rested her chin on her hands and gave Rubi a teasing grin. "You wouldn't understand."

"Fine, keep your secrets, but in exchange, could tea be an option? I'm really thirsty."

"Sure, that sounds fair. It'll take me a few minutes, though." She got to her feet and started putting some water over a fire. "Actually, fire demoness, you could help me with this. Catch!" and she threw the pot at Rubi, so that no water spilled out.

Rubi caught it on reflex. She dipped one hand in and started heating it up. As she was doing that, Rubi sniffed the air around Daichia, to see if she could get any clues, and was met with a shock.

The earth demoness had a scent very much like Sesshomaru's all over her. It was a slight bit different though- what could that mean? But as soon as Sesshomaru had invaded her mind, another thought came.

"If you're an earth demoness, could you possibly locate the violet moonflower?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, I can't grow plants that powerful, but I'm sure I could find it. Healing anyone?"

"No, it's for a- friend of mine." _Yeah right, _Rubi thought, _enemy would have been closer to the truth._

"Do you want to stay the night, then? I'll find it in the morning," Daichia turned her shoulder and gave Rubi a genuine smile that radiated beauty. "I've never really been able to talk to a demoness around my age for this long. I like you," and she went back to preparing the tea. "Because truth is," she paused for a moment, unsure if what she was about to say would go down well. Getting her courage up again, Daichia continued.

"I'm a half-demon."

**- End**


	12. Rubi and Daichia, Attacked!

Whoo, it's chapter 12! I'll probably get into a regular undating habit, i.e. updating every weekend. So I promise to be more regular! It was really weird, cause for about a week I hardly had any visitors, but when I uploaded those two chapters on Tuesday, I got 24 visitors in one day! Hmm, I wish more people visited my story, but from talking to a friend, I'm doing amazingly well for a fanficcer that just started in November, so I guess I should thank my lucky stars!

Note: Daichia belongs to Kira. Find her at www(dot)daichia-inuyasha(dot)deviantart(dot)com.

Disclaimer: I do not or ever will own Inuyasha, unless I'm somehow Rumiko Takahashi's long-lost decendant and she dies soon.

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_Rubi and Daichia had just enough time to stand up and move beside each other before a huge shape rose out of the water. A turtle like creature stood before the demonesses, taller than both of them put together. A hard shell adorned its back, and Rubi knew from battle experience that the shell would be the trickiest thing to get around, since it was probably harder than rock. Blood started running into her eyes, impairing her vision._

"_We'll do this together!" Daichia shouted, running at the creature. _

**~Rubi and Daichia, Attacked!~**

"Half-demon?!"

"Yes. My mother was a beautiful earth demoness and my father a general in a human army."

Rubi was astounded. Of course there were others like her, but she had never actually met them, save Sesshomaru's half brother Inuyasha. And he she had only seen from a distance.

She soon got her voice back, mainly from Daichia looking over at her apprehensively, as if Rubi would condemn her to some unimaginable fate.

"Well, you don't have to worry. I'm one too."

It was now Daichia's turn to be surprised. The look on her face started as surprise, then soon slid into a happy smile.

"Oh, then the question that I was about to ask you is completely useless now!"

"What was that?"

"I've heard there was a fire demoness travelling with the great Lord Sesshomaru-sama of the Western Lands, and you fit her description quite well. But he wouldn't travel with a half-demoness, so it isn't you, right?"

The fire demoness shook her head, feigning an expressionless look. Inside, she was crying for the privilege she had lost.

They stayed up talking late into the night, Daichia never once losing her joyful bubble. She and Rubi exchanged information and stories, but the kansai youkai never once mentioned where she had recently come from.

The two hanyous awoke in the morning after a night of restful sleep. Daichia had prepared a quick breakfast, and now they were leaping through the branches of a dense forest. It felt so weird to Rubi to be running with someone she could actually keep up with, even when they were putting out every last bit of energy. She didn't know exactly why she was trying so hard find to find this flower, since she would most likely never see the Demon Lord again. _That might be good. Not seeing him will hopefully put him out of my mind, and I'll be able to get on with my life. _It hadn't worked so far, but it possibly could, in time.

"Yes, I found them! Rubi-chan, come here!" Daichia was bent over a seemingly normal-looking vine with innocently closed buds. "Any other demon wouldn't be able to find them that easily, since they have no scent. You have to go completely on sight."

"Thanks so much!" Rubi hugged her briefly and then cut a section of the vine with about five buds perched on it. "It will continue to bloom when it's time if the flowers are still connected to vine, correct?" Daichia nodded.

An idea hit the earth demoness. "Hey, there's a beautiful hot spring around here. Want to have a bath?"

There was really nowhere Rubi could go, so why not prolong the moment of leaving? "That sounds great!"

Daichia led the way to a huge, heavenly spring with a layer of mist floating on top of the water. Just as Rubi took off a black boot and let the warm water caress her foot, a tentacle shot out and latched itself around her ankle, slamming her body down upon the hard rock.

Rubi screamed as she hit the ground, a rock slicing her forehead and left cheek.

"Catch!" was yelled at her, and Rubi lifted her hands just in time to receive her staff, which Daichia had thrown her. The earth youkai already had her sword drawn. It shone in the bright sunlight, a single vine wrapped about the base, near the hilt.

Rubi stabbed the tentacle with the diamond shaped top of her staff. The sharp points cut deep into the attacker, and the jewel glowed brightly as the tentacle was burnt too. It withdrew quickly.

Rubi and Daichia had just enough time to stand up and move beside each other before a huge ominous shape rose out of the water. A turtle like creature stood before the demonesses, taller than both of them put together. A shell adorned its back, and Rubi knew from battle experience that the shell would be the trickiest thing to get around, since it was probably harder than rock. Blood was beginning to run into her eyes, impairing her vision.

"We'll do this together!" Daichia shouted, running at the creature. "Leaf Daggers!"

Leaves appeared in her hand, and she threw them at the turtle. Rubi didn't have a clue about how that would harm it, until her acute eyesight saw razor-sharp edges on the deep green leaves.

The lethal collection of leaves hit the turtle hard and fast, but all they did was rebound off its rock hard shell. Daichia and Rubi had to move out the way so fast they almost didn't make it as the leaves hurdled back at them.

"Whoops, sorry about that!" Daichia called from her crouching position on a rock not that far away.

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to try something!" and Rubi sprung up off the ground and into the air, using her demonic powers to jump impossibly high. She positioned herself right over the beast's head, and slammed her staff down into its large yellow eyes, screaming, "Fire Wall!"

A blast of deep red flame came from the demoness's staff as the heat burnt out the turtle's eyes. It roared in agony and swung its huge head around, tossing Rubi and her staff onto the ground. The fire demoness landed hard on her feet, collapsing and twisting her ankle.

"Rubi, are you alright?" Daichia was at her side in a second.

"Damn it, this hurts. Yeah, fine just- WATCH OUT!"

The creature was coming towards them in full force, blundering around and angry that it could no longer see. Daichia pushed her hands out in front of them.

A shield of rock flew out from her outstretched hands and the turtle slammed into it.

Rubi glanced up, relieved. "Thanks, you saved my life there."

Daichia just smiled and jumped up, ready to land another blow on its head.

But the turtle was faster. It opened its mouth and a huge blast of energy shot out, making head-on contact with the earth youkai's right arm. Her sword flew away and she tumbled onto the hot spring bank, curling up in a protective ball and clutching her arm, which was unmoving and adorned with several jagged cuts.

The creature lumbered towards Daichia, apparently deciding to finish her off first. Rubi couldn't just do nothing, not when the earth demoness had saved her life moments earlier.

The fire demoness sprung up into the air, though not even half as powerfully as before. She slashed her staff at the huge creature, but it lifted its head and knocked her down next to Daichia, causing her staff to disappear into a momentarily irretrievable space between two boulders.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't save us."

Daichia gave her a watery smile. She was crying, and from the incredible sadness radiating off her, it wasn't from her wounds, or that she was about to die. Something more was driving it, possibly _someone…_

Rubi felt an overwhelming urge to see her Lord Sesshomaru, to feel his presence near her. But it would never happen. Rubi grabbed Daichia's hand.

"You tried your best," the earth demoness whispered. She murmured something then, something that sounded very much like _I'll never see him again…_

The turtle's head loomed over them and then shot down, mouth opened wide and ready to devour them.

And then a flash of blinding sky-blue light came down upon the turtle's back, splitting its shell and entire body completely in half like it was butter. Its two halves fell to either side with a resounding thump, revealing a face that Rubi had been prepared to never see again in her life.

Silver hair swirling around his inhumanly beautiful face, Sesshomaru stood with his deadly sword Tokijin glowing blue and dripping blood grasped solidly in his hand. Daichia gasped, immediately kneeling on the uncomfortable rock surface, gaze lowered to the ground. Rubi just sat there, taking in his appearance. She then realized her friend was kneeling beside her, and quickly took on an awkward-looking position as well, favouring her badly twisted ankle.

"Lord Sesshomaru-sama, thank you," she whispered. Daichia was still in awe over seeing the Lord of the Western Lands. Rubi was curious about one thing, and she asked, "How did you find us?"

"I followed the scent of your blood. Rise," he replied in his gorgeous voice she had committed to memory over the past two and a half years. He gave her a funny look that said _you've never bowed to me like this before. _Rubi blushed slightly and straightened up. Her insides contorted with pain due to her ankle but she managed to keep her face expressionless.

The earth demoness finally discovered she had a voice, and put it to use. "Thank you so much, Lord Sesshomaru-sama, for saving us!" She bowed respectively.

"Rubi, who is this?" he asked her with a mildly curious tone in his question.

"Daichia, an earth youkai." The demoness in question gaped at Rubi.

"You two- _know _each other?"

Rubi smiled. "Yeah, I actually am," she looked at Sesshomaru and then dropped her gaze, "_was_ the demoness who travelled with him." The Demon Lord looked at her, but said nothing.

"Oh," Daichia said, aware she had hit a bad topic. "Thank you again, if there is anything I can do for you, Lord Sesshomaru-"

Rubi cut her off. "Actually, there is something you have already done, Daichia-chan," and she held out the cloth package containing the vine of violet moonflowers to Sesshomaru, which she had placed in her shoulder bag earlier.

He took them without a word, first brought the vine up to his nose and sniffed, then wrapped it up in its red cloth and tucked the whole thing inside his kimono, dipping his head to Daichia in the process.

"I'm honoured to be of help to you, my lord. Now-" and she glanced up at the sky, where the sun was already quite high above them, "I really must get going. I have to meet a-" she looked at Sesshomaru quickly, him noticing but not commenting, "a _friend._ Are you fine, Rubi?"

_I better not hold her up. If I really have nowhere to go, I'll be able to follow our scent back to her bramble hut. _"Yeah, I'm fine. Bye!"

"Goodbye, Rubi-chan!" Daichia waved and ran into the bushes, making sure to keep her injured arm curled tightly to her chest.

Sesshomaru started walking away from her, towards the faint outline of a huge town in the distance. Rubi was confused. Should she stay, or try following him? He walked a few paces, then came to a halt.

"I will not wait for you forever, Rubi."

Her violet eyes brightened so much that light was almost visible shining from them. Rubi's face broke into a huge smile. "But my lord, I am afraid I cannot walk…" _Will this seal my fate? Will he leave me here, to fend for myself in this weak state?_

Sesshomaru turned and walked over where she stood, all her weight balanced on one leg. He spun so his back faced her and knelt down. "Get on."

Rubi cautiously climbed on the Lord of the Western Land's back, being careful not to put her hand on his armour spikes or pull his amazingly long hair. She smiled at the thought of their bodies so close together.

Sesshomaru started running, at such a pace that her surroundings blurred around her, even with her demonic eyesight. Rubi was flying through the forest, on the back of Lord Sesshomaru.

**- End**


	13. Beautiful and Dangerous

Ack, I hate Monira. She tortured Rin-chan!!!! Meh. Anyways, here's chapter 13! Oh, and a huge thank you to everyone who's been reading it, it's my first story and my friends say I have an amazing amount of views! Special thankies to the 2 who have my story on Alert and the 6 who have fav'd it. If you have the time, please R&R!!! ^^

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"_She's one of those girls, nothing but trouble,_

_Just one look and now you're seeing double,_

_Before you know it she'll be gone, off to the next one,_

_She's so good that you won't see it coming,_

_She'll take you for a ride, and you'll be left with nothing,_

_You'll be broken, she'll be gone, _

_Off to the next one…" - "One of Those Girls," Avril Lavigne _

**~Beautiful and Dangerous~**

The village was sprawled out in front of her. Wooden shops stood all around, merchants yelling out their wares to passersby. Snow had just settled on the ground a few nights ago, making every building look like a delicious vanilla cake.

Rubi started walking through the demon village, making sure to hold Rin's hand tightly. She had noticed the hungry stares some demons gave her, and she was pretty sure Rin had seen them too, but hadn't said anything. _Was this a good idea?_

"Rubi-chan? Can I please look at those pretty kimonos that the demon over there is selling? He looks nice enough…"

Rubi glanced over to the shop her little ward was pointing to. It was just a few meters away, a pretty safe distance.

"Yes you can, but _be careful!_ And if anything happens, call for me."

"Okay, I will!" and she turned and rushed off, snow crunching where her hasty feet were set down.

The fire demoness shopped around a bit more, making sure to keep in hearing distance of the shop Rin had disappeared into. But as the minutes wore on and became an hour, Rubi began to worry. _She must've looked at every kimono there by now! It couldn't have taken that long?_

When Rubi had purchased the fish to cook for tonight's dinner and some rice cakes for Rin, she elbowed her way through the crowd of demons and took off at a run. She travelled to the store and came to a halt outside, searching desperately for any trace of the human girl's scent. _What was I thinking, letting her run off by herself in a city full of demons? Sesshomaru will have my head and I'll be heartbroken if anything happens to her!_

"I must find her scent! Ah, here it is!" Rubi smiled in satisfaction. But there was still the job of actually locating her. The youkai ran on, following Rin's trail this time.

Running as fast as she could over the fresh powdery snow, Rubi sunk up to her chest a few times and then decided that she would have better luck on the rooftops. She then went from roof to roof, receiving disgusted looks from a group of demonesses clad in expensive many layered kimonos. Rin never could have jumped from building to building like this, and there was another scent combined with her own. _She must've been kidnapped! Oh god… how am I going to get her back? This demon is probably ten times as strong as me! _

Rubi landed in a huge courtyard, the sound of her feet hitting the ground muffled by the many layers of snow. The scent led here. She caught sight of two figures quite far away, one lying on their side in the snow. The other tall silhouette was standing, looking over them.

The fire demoness started off at a brisk walk towards the two people. She wasn't sure if Rin was one of them, but perhaps they knew of her whereabouts. She continued forward, until a scream was picked up by her sharp ears.

"Rubi! Sesshomaru! _Help!_"

The last word was cut short by a thud, and from where she stood Rubi could detect sobbing.

Pushing off of the snow, Rubi ran, possibly faster than she had ever travelled before. A weaker full demon would have trouble keeping her pace at this moment.

"Get your hands off Rin!" She yelled as she practically flew to where the figures were. She was right, Rin was writing on the ground in pain, her body emitting a faint blue light. And the demoness standing over her was strangely familiar. The answer came to Rubi – _Monira._

"Oh, come to join the party, Rubi? Sorry– no half breeds allowed."

"Let. Her. Go," Rubi growled, a red glow radiating off her body. It became so bright it appeared that she was on fire. She gripped her staff in her hand so hard it hurt.

"No Rubi! Don't fight her, she's too powerful!"

"Smart words for a filthy human," the cat demoness said while flicking her index finger at the human in question. A shock of bright blue light shot out of her claw and hit Rin in the head. She screamed even louder. "See, this wench spoke up for you at the Ball of Powers, saying some rather-" she ran one slender finger along Rin's cheek, leaving a painful black burn, "_not nice _things to me. She needed to learn her lesson, so when I saw her at the market today, it provided the perfect opportunity. Even with your dirty mixed blood, you should find the torture of humans amusing. Or are you not a real demon in mind _and _appearance?"

"Do you honestly have nothing better to do than beat up people weaker than you? It's demonesses like you I _really _hate!" and Rubi jumped at her, sending a stream of fire at the feline youkai's beautiful face. She deflected it with one wave of her hand.

"Ah Rubi, I'm getting rather bored of this game. I was just settling a score with your pet human, but now you have gotten me quite angry. A cat's anger runs deep," she flicked her clawed hand in a playful feline manner, mocking Rubi. "I have just one warning. If either of you," she gestured to the fire demoness standing before her and the human girl crumpled up on he ground, crying quietly, "breathe a word of this to Sesshomaru, I will waste no time in seeing that both of you are silenced. Now, ta-ta!" she waved and started walking away, long royal blue kimono swishing in the snow and slender black tail twitching. Monira then turned back. "And Rubi- think about this. I know what you want; it is as obvious as day and night. And I have already put a plan in motion to see that it _never_ happens."

She disappeared. Rubi bent down, gathered the snowy Rin in her arms and walked back, mind a blank pit of rage.

Sitting in a tree back at camp, Rubi was alone, thinking. _Was what she said really true? Definitely not the human demon part… she insulted me by saying that real demons do not tolerate humans, but at the same time she unknowingly insulted Lord Sesshomaru himself. But what about the "It's as obvious as night and day" thing? Is it like that? Does he already know? And what is she doing to stop it…?_ She looked out over the forest, caught up in her own thoughts, too absorbed to notice Rin climbing up beside her.

"Hey Rubi-chan!"

Rubi almost fell out of the tree. "Hi, don't scare me like that!"

Rin giggled. "I didn't mean to…"

"Yeah, I know. How are you doing? Not hurting anymore, right?"

"No, not really, it hurts sometimes but not that much anymore."

Rubi looked down. "Good… I shouldn'tve taken you to the demon village. It's my fault you got accosted by that disgusting feline youkai. I'm so sorry, Rin-chan."

Rin smiled. She didn't have an answer, but her simple action of taking Rubi's hand in her own was enough to show Rubi that she more than forgave the fire youkai.

"I'm going to get some water. I think Sesshomaru-sama asked me to get some a couple hours ago." Rubi leaped down from the tree in one fluid movement.

"But Rubi-chan!" Rin leaped down too, wincing from the impact of her feet hitting the ground hard combined with her still-sore injuries from yesterday. "Aren't you going to tell Sesshomaru-sama?"

Rubi closed her eyes, standing in silence for some time. She then looked up and replied sadly "I would if it was just me in question, but it's you, too. Monira was serious with her death threat. I don't want you to come to any harm."

Rubi followed her ears to the nearest river, grabbing a handmade clay bowl on the way through camp. She ran through the forest, and had almost made it to the river when her nose caught a well-known scent. Rubi tried to turn the other way and bolt away, but Monira was already standing in front of her.

"What are you doing here? You've had your fun, now leave!" Rubi spat.

"Oh, just checking out the situation. It really is pathetic how you follow Lord Sesshomaru around. A demoness would play hard-to-get."

She walked forward. The cat demoness was a few inches taller than Rubi.

Monira placed one hand on Rubi's cheek, made rosy from the cold air.

"Tch tch, where did the beauty on you go, half breed? Definitely not to your face," she stepped back, laughing.

"Why are you doing this? What do you gain from playing these disgusting games? You are no better than a greedy human!" Rubi shouted.

In the space of a second, a perfect hand met with her face. Rubi could feel the snap of her nose breaking from the impact. When she looked up, Monira was standing in the same place, a look of barely concealed hatred evident on her angelic face.

"Do you know what? Your filthy pet human asked the same question this summer. And I'll give you the same answer: you and your pitiful obsession are the only things that stand between me and the title of Lady of the Western Lands. Sesshomaru's mate. To put it nicely, I _hate _competition," she smiled sweetly. "Oh, it looks like Sesshomaru won't be taking a liking to your face anymore."

Rubi could feel the hot blood streaming down her face from her broken nose.

"You are a horrible bitch," she whispered softly.

"I won't be playing your petty games," she replied cheerfully. "Have fun explaining to Sesshomaru where that broken nose came from."

She was gone, finally. Rubi walked over to the huge river, unfrozen in winter. Examining her sorry reflection, the demoness saw her nose was bent badly out of shape and was already beginning to heal with the help of her demon blood. She gave it a sharp bend that re-broke it, bringing tears to her eyes, and used the reflection in the water to painfully bend it so it looked quite straight. She then splashed water up, to rid her face of the blood. One would have to look quite closely to see that she had broken her nose.

"I better be getting back. The others might start worrying about me," she said out loud and stood up, quickly filled the bowl with clear water and ran back.

Rubi was panting when she returned. _I've been doing too much running today, _she thought as the sun shone off the fresh snow in the clearing, almost blinding her. And leaning against the tree was an angel. The sunlight hit his silvery-white hair in a dazzling manner, and the golden pools that were his eyes stood out against his pale appearance that blended in so well with the snow.

She walked over to Sesshomaru, knelt down in the soft white blanket that covered the earth and handed him the clay bowl. He took it with out a word, not even looking at the demoness. Why couldn't she just blurt out 'I love you'? Was it really that hard? _I wish I was as invisible as you make me feel, _she thought sadly, getting up and walking over to the other side of the clearing. And promptly getting hit in the head by a snowball.

"Hey!" she whipped around quickly, just in time to see a little ponytail duck behind a tree. Rubi sighed. "Rin-chan, come out!"

There was a muffled giggle from behind the tree that was quite loud to Rubi's ears, but the human didn't surrender herself. It was time for drastic measures.

Using demonic speed, the kansai youkai sprinted around the tree, dragging her fingers in the snow and forming a round, perfect snowball. She flung it at Rin gently and hit her on her on her back. The little girl didn't even know what hit her, literally.

"Wha! Hey Rubi-chan!" she exclaimed, spinning around.

"You reap what you sow," Rubi said, arms crossed and eyes closed. Rin thought she looked like one of those sculptures of the gods that she saw in town.

Rin threw another, Rubi ducked, and it sailed across the clearing to hit Jaken in the back, knocking him face-first into the cold snow.

"Nice one, Rin-chan! I can't complain about that!"

They both giggled. A furious toad youkai closed in on them, huge yellow eyes narrowed.

And so a snow fight insued. Rubi laughed and participated, but never really took her mind off the insults Monira had scarred her with, both today and yesterday. _Why is she suddenly being like this? And what's the plan she spoke of?_

**-End**


	14. Competition

Hey! Just one more chapter to go, until Book One ends! Here's where it starts getting depressing. You've been warned!

Thanks for reading!! If you have the time, I love reviews!

_-----------------_

_"**Could it be you, or do I lose my way,**_

**_I'm here but colourblind,_**

**_Could it be you, or do I break away,_**

**_Just to leave the past behind,_**

**_I only want to feel the sunlight, start the fight, and see it in your eyes,_**

**_Wish I just knew what I should do, could it be you,_**

**_Somebody tell if it's true, I don't have a clue,_**

**_Could it be you…?" - "Could It Be You," Cascada_**

**~ Competition ~**

_Just another day, another day in the life of Rubi Tamasho,_ Rubi thought, though not exactly bitterly and not exactly fondly. She woke up lazily, stretched, and prepared to cook a beautiful breakfast of… mushrooms. _Rin is a growing child, she needs more to eat than that!_

"_Rubi_-chan, when is the food going to be ready?" Rin asked politely, rubbing her stomach with one hand. Rubi's ears had just picked up a growling sound coming from Rin's general direction.

"Soon, but I think I'll have to catch something myself," the youkai replied while flicking her index finger at a spot on the ground devoid of snow. A healthy blaze of fire sprung up at her touch.

She then fashioned a spit with three branches, scraping the bark off with her pointed fingernails.

Just as she placed the mushroom-adorned spit over the fire, she heard Sesshomaru enter the clearing.

"You are leaving to hunt?"

Rubi looked away from her fire. She stood up and nodded.

"Hn. I will be gone the morning, and will return when the sun is directly overhead."

Rubi watched the retreating form of his back as it disappeared into the shady, snow-covered trees once again.

_This is so weird. We usually move from place to place, but he's insisted in staying near this one city for close to two weeks now. And he's gone more than usual as well. _Rubi looked up at the clear blue sky. _That's the first time he has talked to me in close to four days._

"Okay Rin-chan, I'm leaving. Make sure the mushrooms don't burn, and take care of Jaken!" They both glanced over to where the imp was sleeping soundly on a pile of leaves, obviously not going anywhere anytime soon.

The demoness stared at the place where Lord Sesshomaru had disappeared once again. _It's so hard, because secretly you are the only thing that lifts me up and makes me smile._

She had just located and killed a fox when the demon found her. Rubi was humming as she skinned it with a short knife, performing that chore here in the wild rather than back at camp, since she was aware that it made Rin nauseous. She felt the youkai's demonic aura, and immediately determined that it was weak, about the same level of power as hers. She drove a stick into the ground to mark where the fox lay and turned around just in time to witness the demon stomping out of the shadows towards her. The demon was born of many humans dying painful deaths in a massive forest of vines, and their hateful thoughts that followed. Rubi readied herself, slipping into a guard stance with her legs apart and staff held braced in front of her body.

It roared and lashed out at her, a vine wrapping around her waist tightly before she had time to react.

"I will eat you alive, half demon!" it yelled in a warped voice, opening its huge mouth even wider, displaying several rows of teeth.

"No, sorry, but I think I have some different plans," Rubi replied, struggling for breath as the vine squeezed tighter.

She called upon her full strength and shut her eyes tightly, willing what she was about to do to work.

A pain-filled yell from the demon assured her it had.

Rubi's body was on fire. From her head to her legs, she was a living, burning pillar. The demon dropped her instantly, recoiling to nurse its burnt vine. The fire had caught onto the vine itself, and had almost travelled all the way along it's length to the demon's body.

Rubi fell to the ground, gasping for breath. She was still slightly ablaze, and looked down, expecting to see her clothing burning off. But there was no visible damage to her black and red travelling suit. _Amazing, _she thought, _it must be made of fire-proof fabric that only the kansai youkais know to make!_

"Hmm…" she murmured, analyzing the demon and deciding on what move to make next.

But the demon was quicker. It swung out more vines in an attempt to grab her throat and strangle her before she had time to set herself on fire again. Rubi just managed to get her flame sphere around herself.

When it had withdrawn, Rubi knew what she was going to do. She ran straight at it, pushing off the ground and flying through the air, so she was right above it. Rubi brought her fire-staff down upon its head and, with a burst of red light, cleaved the demon perfectly in half. Her feet came in contact with the ground once again, and she stood up, pleased with her victory.

The walk back to camp was uneventful. When she arrived, the fire demoness cooked the fox on the spit as well. Rin had convinced Jaken to play a game of tag with her, but when the food was ready they stopped instantly. As they ate in silence, Rubi noticed Jaken looked more thoughtful than usual, occasionally shaking his head and furrowing his brow, as if trying to get a particularly weird image out of his head.

When it started getting annoying, she had to ask.

"What's your problem?"

Jaken looked at her, eyes wide, then averted his eyes and played with a handful of snow on the ground. "Nothing, fire youkai."

Rubi raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "So you mean you're always acting this insane?"

Jaken looked flustered. "No, no, it's not that, its nothing-"

Rin glanced up from her breakfast and rubbed her burgundy chopsticks together. "Yeah, Master Jaken, you _have _been acting weird, now that Rubi-chan mentions it!"

"Well…" the toad demon's face took on a slightly pink colour, which looked quite peculiar on his green cheeks. "There is _something…_"

"Then tell us!" Rin popped up on Rubi's shoulder. She hated when people kept secrets from her, unless they had a good reason. Rubi's face took on a sly look as well, her eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, tadpole, tell us! You have no right to keep secrets from your superiors!"

His eyes narrowed. "You are not my superior, Rubi, I'll have you know that I've been alive much longer than-"

"I'm bigger, and could beat you into a pulp. But never mind! Seriously, tell us. If it's secret, we won't tell, right Rin-chan?" Rubi winked at her. Rin was _very _good at keeping secrets.

The toad youkai glanced around a few times before sighing and replying,

"Fine, but you absolutely can _not _tell that I told you this!" He looked worried.

Rubi and Rin leaned in closer as he started to whisper.

"Lord Sesshomaru is seeing a demoness, a feline youkai named Monira. That's why he left today."

Lord Sesshomaru walked swiftly through the bustling city. The main street was busy, but the crowd parted for him, creating an easy path to walk down. He spared no side glances for anyone, not even the merchants seeking advice or the love struck demonesses wanting attention. Because that was exactly what he about to give to someone. _Why was I doing this? I do not love her. I have not loved anyone in centuries. _He looked up to the sky, seeing how much time he had. He knew quite well that he did not feel anything towards the feline youkai Monira. But the time had come. He needed an heir to the title of Lord of the Western Lands. And he needed a _strong _heir. Love did not enter the matter.

Sesshomaru knew that Monira would bear him a powerful child, even if it was not fully inuyoukai. She was one of the most powerful demonesses he knew, and most definitely the most beautiful. And mating season was taking place in less then a month and a half.

He turned onto a side street and had finally come to her house. To him, it more resembled a temple. The Demon Lord raised one hand and knocked on the door.

It was slid aside by a bird demoness dressed in servant's clothes.

"Oh, milord!" She curtsied low. "Please come in, the Lady of the house is waiting for you."

The servant lead him through the main room, then out onto a wooden patio shining with ice in the late morning sun, then finally back into the building and to a rice curtain. She knocked, and called, "Monira-sama, Sesshomaru-sama is here to see you!"

And answering call of "Come in!" came, and the servant bowed once again and left. Sesshomaru pushed the curtain aside with the back of his hand and walked in.

Monira was seated on a rich velvet cushion, her legs folded like a lady. She wore a deep purple many-layered kimono with a pink pattern of snowflakes adorning it. Her golden hair was up in a complicated bun held by chopsticks, and a glass of sake was held in her right hand.

She stood up slowly and walked over to him.

"I'm so glad to see you, Sesshomaru!" she exclaimed, beaming. He noted the lack of title disapprovingly, but did not comment.

"I trust you have been well?"

He nodded. She moved closer to him.

"Remember that there is going to eventually be a purpose to our meetings, Monira." He closed his amber eyes, trying to get his message of displeasure across to the female youkai.

She smiled teasingly. "Yes, I know, but for now…" Monira placed her cherry coloured lips on his and her arms around his back.

If he wanted everything to go smoothly, he had no choice but to return the kiss.

_I just can't believe it._

Rubi now paced around the camp angrily, Rin watching with worried eyes. Jaken, after divulging his secret, had decided to go to the market, probably to make himself scarce. Rubi continued pacing.

_So what she said was true, that horrible feline youkai wench. But… I was so certain that he might have felt something for me! He asked me to the Ball of Powers… _she thought back some more. _He even saved my life by giving me his demonic energy! It might've even killed him in the process, he didn't know. Isn't it that you sacrifice your life for the ones you love? How could he love her… doesn't he know what she was really like?_

"Rubi-chan, are you okay?" Rin's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine… but I'm not fine! Do you know what this means?"

Rin thought. "Uh… he loves her?" She grimaced. This was hurting Rubi so much.

"No Rin, not just that! If he's seeing her this close to mating season, that means he's expecting her to bear his child, the heir of the Western Lands, and become his mate! And that consequently means that I have _no chance _of _ever_ being with him, ever!"

Rubi was aware through the haze of her thoughts that she sounded childish, but she didn't care. Not when her world was so close to falling apart at the seams.

Rin's worried face was back with vengence. "Then… what are you going to do?"

Rubi sat down on a log and started running through possible scenarios she could say, _would say._ "There's only one thing to do. Wait, and confront him."

That was exactly what she planned to do.

**- End**


	15. Unlove You

Oh my god, it's the last chapter of Book One. Yay, now I get to go into the settings and change the status to "complete!" *goes into spaz about something that is very trival* Hehehe... Very sorry about the huge cliffie, but Book Two will be up in the next couple days! And.........

A HUGE THANKYOU TO EVERYONE WHO'S READ THIS FAR!!! IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!!!! LUV YA 3!!!

R&R if you have time!

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**_Even though my heart is telling me to stay, begging me to stay,_**

**_My dignity is telling me I gotta walk away, so_**

**_I'mma gonna say what I gotta say,_**

**_That's all you can do,_**

**_I'mma gonna break what I gotta break,_**

**_Cause you were untrue,_**

**_I'm gonna hurt, I'm gonna cry,_**

**_I'm gonna tear me up inside,_**

**_I'mma gonna do what I gotta do, to unlove you. _**

**_ - "Unlove You," Elise Estrada _**

**~ Unlove You ~**

Sitting there, waiting. Waiting for _him._ She just couldn't believe that he would do this. Why? How could he, being such a good people reader, not see Monira's true colours? Rubi's blood boiled at the thought of them, sitting beside each other, their lips meeting… she shook the thought out of her head with a disgusted look on her face.

Rin sat by the base of a tree, sketching patterns into the snow. Rubi could tell by her posture and scent that she was tense, waiting for something, a climax in the plot. The distraught fire demoness tore her gaze off the girl when she heard footsteps in the underbrush, coming closer to the camp. In just a few minutes, Lord Sesshomaru was standing in front of them.

Rubi steeled herself. _Am I ready to do this? _She would be asking for death. A pit of fear opened up inside her. But at the same time, a feeling of purpose came with it. _I'm a kansai youkai, a fire demoness. I am strong. I can do this. _

She silently stood up and made her way over to where Sesshomaru was standing. Being this close to him brought pleasant shivers down her spine, but she ignored them as best she could.

"Lord Sesshomaru…" her face was innocent, like she was asking a simple question. Then it hardened. "What were you doing, just now?"

Rin looked up, surprise and fear in her expression. She hadn't thought Rubi would actually see her vow through. She also knew that by doing this, Rubi was putting herself in grave danger.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I don't know. Curious, maybe? The great Lord Sesshomaru does not usually visit villages on his own." Rubi was aware that she was mocking him. She was quite scared herself. A gasp came from the other side of the clearing. Jaken had just entered, and was astounded at what he had heard.

"If you want to know, Rubi, it is not a secret. I am currently in need of an heir, and am seeing a feline youkai." He stared at her, challenging her to say something, _anything._

Rubi took a deep breath. This was it. Saying those three words that she had been too afraid to utter for almost three years. And the time had come to say it, confess her true feelings for the Demon Lord. She could do it.

Rubi Tamasho opened her mouth and the words just spilled out, like they had badly wanted to escape her body.

"But- but… I thought you loved…" and the last syllable came out so quietly, you would've had to possess Sesshomaru's amazing demonic hearing to hear it at all. "Me."

His face, always so emotionless, for one split second showed utter shock. It was then that Rubi's fear took over her courage, but it was too late to turn back now.

The inuyoukai's face slipped back into his usual mask. "What has _ever _made you think that?" His voice was pure ice.

Tears started to pool in Rubi's violet eyes, but she refused to let them show.

"Um…" she found strength in her own voice. "You invited me to the Ball of Powers! You have kept me by your side for three years! And you even _saved my life, at the possible expense of your own!_ Don't those things prove enough?"

Sesshomaru took her words in, and then spoke the very thing that made Rubi's heart shatter into a million tiny pieces that would be almost impossible to put back together again.

"Then you have been highly delusional." His mouth clenched, eyes hardened to metal and threw the words at her slowly and without mercy. "Let me make this very clear. I could _never _love a hanyou."

She clutched her chest, as if his words inflicted physical pain with every syllable.

The tears spilled over then, coating her cheeks in a river of water. She couldn't think, couldn't move, and couldn't even put proper thoughts together. Her world had been shattered, along with her heart.

"B-b… but…" It was all she could do to say one word, a word of feeble protest, one that would wake her up and bring her out of this horrible, cruel nightmare.

Sesshomaru carried on. "One of my status could never be with one of yours. One possessing my powers could never stand to have a relationship with a half-breed, with a demon having as dirty blood as you. How could you even _think _of accusing me of bearing feelings for _you!"_ He snarled the last word. She could see, through her fragile mind, how every muscle in his body was tensed. He was angry, so angry at her.

"No… no…" and her body was urging her most basic instinct- when she was scared and upset, run. Run far, far away. And then she found her voice. "Yes, I'm a dreamer and yes, I believe in love, even if you do not. And if one day I actually start to matter, please let me know."

Rubi felt like she was going to choke on her own tears. She turned so suddenly she almost stumbled and sprinted into the dark safety of the forest behind her. Yes, if it had been any other day she would've blushed hard at her clumsiness, but now it didn't matter. Nothing mattered, only that her love had refused her and his words had shredded her mind and very soul.

"Rubi! Rubi _no!"_

Rin unfroze from her unmoving position she had assumed for the last few minutes. She stood up and ran with one hand outstretched, past Jaken, past the man she hated most at the moment, after the one who had comforted, healed and _accepted _her for the human she was through the past years. _No… she couldn't… he couldn't… I have to stop her!_

She repeated her plea, running between the first trees that surrounded the clearing. Rin travelled so fast that a root caught her foot and slammed her body to the ground, cutting her face and grazing her uncovered knee. She barely noticed that tears were streaming down her own face as well. The shape of her best friend that was disappearing rapidly into the distance called her full attention. She stretched out her hand once again and called out, but Rubi didn't stop, and soon she was gone. And the little nine year old human girl was positive that because of a certain Demon Lord's thoughtless, cruel words, she would never return.

Rin slowly pulled herself to a standing position. She walked the few paces to that led her back to camp, the tears never stopping once.

Sesshomaru looked at her. She could almost see a shred of concern in his eyes, but any chance of redemption was long gone.

"Rin."

She whipped her head around to face him again, eyes burning with anger he did not know she held in her. "Don't talk to me!"

Lying down on her blankets, the early night pressing down on her, Rin tried to retire to the blissful nothingness of sleep, but she tossed and turned all night, plagued by thoughts of Rubi and what could be happening to her.

Lost and alone, Rubi stumbled through clearing after clearing, forest after forest. Her broken mind didn't notice that the dark night was pressing down on her, perfect for attacking demons, or that her body screamed in pain and weariness with every step she took. Her mind was at a standstill, his words repeating over and over again like some merchant at the market, trying to convince you to buy his wares. _I thought he loved me. How could I have been so wrong?_

She walked on, and when finally her body couldn't take it anymore, she collapsed in front of a huge tree, the bark interlaced with many patterns of old. Rubi sat and cried, cried for herself, cried for her lost and mangled spirit, cried for Sesshomaru and his heartlessness, cried for what they could've been, what _she knew _they could've been.

Hours later, when her throat was sore, her eyes puffy and hurting and the tears all spent, Rubi found she could think more clearly. She knew that she couldn't go back. Her heart was desperately begging her to, but her dignity wouldn't allow it. He had said things to her that made it clear that he didn't want her around. And she was strong, she refused to come crawling back to a man who had hurt her repeatedly, and so much.

It still hurt, though. Her mind was still clouded and delusional with the pain.

She resumed her journey. _Where am I going? _Her village had been destroyed by demons. Yuko's new village was many miles away, and she didn't have a clue where to start looking. It was the same with Daichia's house.

The sudden realization of it all hit her in the face. Her mother and village were dead. Yuko was far away, living a life of her own that she had to rebuild. And the person she gave up _everything _to be with didn't love her at all. Now everything she lived for was broken too much for her to ever try and put back together again. One question rang loud and true in her mind: _If you have nothing to live for, then why live?_

Her mind made up, she stood suddenly and started running, blindly following her ears to the river, which she knew was around here somewhere. She didn't want to have to think or feel. _Was it so wrong to love you, that you had to hurt me so bad?_

Rubi kept moving. She eventually located the fast-moving river, and followed it. She tripped several times and fell hard on the dirt, her face becoming smudged with dirt and dried blood from many cuts, but she payed it no mind. At least, in the last hour of her life, she had a purpose. The fire demoness reached the end of the river and looked out over the edge.

The ground fell away beneath her, into a waterfall which was at least a hundred feet in height. The water smashed below on dagger sharp rocks. Like she desparately hoped her body would.

Rubi walked out onto a narrow log at the very edge of the waterfall. Laying her staff down, she made the descision to leave it there. Maybe Sesshomaru would find it one day, and know what she had done. She hoped he would. But would he care? Not likely. A single tear slid down her cheek.

Rubi took one last breath, savoured life for a few seconds, and jumped off the log to her death many feet below.

**-End**


	16. Questions

Mm'k, so I was reading this book for a novel study at school, and it had some "thought-provoking questions" at the end of the book. So I, being my creative little self (^^) decided to make some quezzies for you guys, the people who read my story! So, these are meant to be thought about after you've read Book One. You don't have to review with your answers or anything like that - these are just for readers' own purposes. Though I would like to know about that last one...

One of the reasons Rubi wanted to travel with Sesshomaru was to escape her arranged mating. Do you think that's a good enough reason to leave all she's ever known? What would you have done to escape an arranged mating?

Rubi finally realized she loved Sesshomaru after 5 months. Have you ever not known you loved someone until you think about it? Would you personally fall for the Demon Lord?

Do you think Rubi took being invited to the Ball of Powers the wrong way, or did Sesshomaru unknowingly want Rubi to accompany him for romantic reasons? Do you think Rin made a wise decision?

Sesshomaru was quite angry with Rubi when he found out that she was half-demon. Do you think his reaction was warranted? Would you have wanted her to leave like he did?

Daichia was abnormally happy when Rubi met her. Do you think her happiness is important to the plot? Why was she so happy?

Monira's hate of Rubi come mostly from rasicm. What does that say about her character? Some of her anger also comes from jealousy. Rubi travels with Sesshomaru, making Monira jealous, but other than that, do you really think Monira considers Rubi much of a threat? Why or why not?

Most people probably thought Rubi and Sesshomaru would become a couple at the end of this book, so the ending would have come as a shock. Was it surprising? Do you think they will ever get together? What will make that possible?

What did you think about the story in general?

And I promise Book Two is coming this week! Thanks for reading!!!


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